3 tanker drivers held for BPCL oil adulteration

Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch arrested three persons, who would adulterate furnace oil after driving out in tankers from BPCL. The samples of furnace oil was tested in the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) laboratory when it came to the fore that the tankers had four compartments and one of them was full of water, which was released in the oil after it was loaded in the tankers.

The arrested accused identified as Yaqub Mohammed Siddique, Sufu Nafis Khan and Raju Saroj were the drivers of the tankers in which the furnace oil was transported. The unit IX officials intercepted the tankers in Mahul following specific information on Monday and the tankers were taken to the unit IX office in Bandra.

The officials questioned the accused on the alleged adulteration when they found partitions in the three tanks that were used to mix the oil with water. A team of experts from the BPCL were also summoned to check the 14,800 litres of furnace oil worth Rs 5.18 lakh that was seized from them.

“The seals on the tankers were broken by the BPCL officials and they collected samples for conducting tests at the BPCL laboratory. The results tested positive for mixing. The drivers indulged in the act while the furnace oil was being transported between Uran, Mahul and Chembur,” said an officer of unit IX of crime branch.  

The police are on the lookout of one Akram Siddique, who is stated to be the kingpin of the racket that also operated in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

A case of theft, cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and counterfeiting as per the IPC and the accused have been remanded to police custody till September 21 for further investigation.