Bhopal: There was major embarrassment for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, when on Thursday night, 19 cars in his convoy suddenly came to a halt—because they had been re-fuelled with allegedly adulterated diesel.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav was on his way to Ratlam for an event on Friday. The vehicles in the convoy—mostly Toyota Innovas—stopped at Shakti Fueling station located near Dosigaon village on the Indore-Mhow road about 10 kilometers short of the Ratlam collectorate. These cars were carrying the chief minister’s staff.
According to officials, when the drivers switched on the ignition after refuelling, a few vehicles stopped at the petrol station itself, while a few others stopped over the next 500 metres.
Private vehicles were quickly arranged for the officials who were in the cars that had broken down, while officials from the Food and Civil Supplies department were rushed to the spot to investigate the incident.
A press note issued by the district administration stated, “Due to the heavy rain in the district, water seeped into the diesel tank of the petrol pump. Subsequently the diesel filled in the vehicles had water in it, which led to the vehicles coming to an abrupt halt.”
Officials inspected the density of the fuel at the pump. About 5,995 liters of petrol and 10,675 liters of diesel have been sealed. Authorities from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) which has a depot at Ratlam rushed to the spot and took three samples of diesel from the petrol pump. The petrol pump has been sealed for now, reports of tests on the samples are still awaited.
A case has also been registered under section 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 against the owner of the petrol pump who has been identified as Shanti Bundela and her husband Hemraj Bundela. Both are residents of Indore.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)