New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch received a tip-off 4 days ago that a syndicate was siphoning off Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) meant for aircraft and selling it illicitly in the open market under the guise of Mineral Turpentine Oil (MTO) repurposed for making paint and ink.
The probe led to the unearthing and seizing of 72,000 litres of jet fuel Sunday from a clandestine lab in Mundka, “saving the national exchequer from a monthly loss of Rs 1.62 crore”, according to a statement by the police.
Acting swiftly on the tip-off, the Crime Branch, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramesh Chander Lamba, had launched a surveillance operation, tracking tankers leaving the HPCL depot in Asoda for Indira Gandhi International Airport.
But they found that instead of heading directly to the airport, the tankers made an unusual stop in Munda. The GPS trackers had been tampered with to keep the stop hidden from both HPCL and airport authorities.
To avoid raising suspicion, the accused only siphoned off small amounts of fuel instead of emptying the tank.
“Each tanker has four to five chambers. So, they would take 50 litres from each chamber. It was done to avoid detection,” a senior police officer told ThePrint.
“This illegal operation had been running daily for the past 3 years, with approximately 5,000 litres of ATF stolen every day, resulting in the theft of nearly 1.5 lakh litres monthly,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), Aditya Gautam said.
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Gauge manipulated & duplicate keys
During the raid, police found three oil tankers, each loaded with 24,000 litres of ATF, being siphoned into barrels using pipes. They also seized two pick-up trucks meant for transporting the stolen fuel, duplicate master keys, barrels filled with stolen ATF and Rs 1.05 lakh in cash.
“They had duplicate keys for the three tankers. Each tanker has a lock, and the keys are with the airport authorities and HPCL,” another senior police officer said.
“To cover their tracks, they also forged measuring rods/gauges, which are used to gauge fuel levels and are marked with the tanker’s identity. They had manipulated the centimeter scale to falsify readings and avoid detection,” the officer added.
Six people have been arrested so far in the case and two have been bound down.
The accused allegedly used pipes to take the fuel out, loaded them into barrels, put them in trucks and sold them in the open market.
Police said the syndicate operated through collusion between the truck drivers, transporters and the godown operator. The arrested accused include Gaya Prasad Yadav, who had previously worked as a tanker driver and is allegedly the mastermind of the syndicate.
According to police, he purchased the ATF at Rs 30 per litre and sold it for Rs 50 per litre.
Another accused, Rajkumar Chaudhary, allegedly purchased the ATF for Rs 40 per litre and sold it at Rs 43 to Rs 50 in the open market. Ashpal Singh Bhullar, the transporter who owned the tankers, has also been arrested.
Drivers Ram Bharose Yadav, Anjay Roy and Subodh Kumar Yadav were allegedly paid Rs 1,500 for each trip.
“Further investigation in the matter is on,” DCP Gautam said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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