Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against 11 individuals accused of stealing diesel from an Indian Oil tanker. A police officer revealed that the accused were involved in pilfering diesel, which they subsequently sold to a tug owner.

As per the information provided by the Sewree Police, the complainant, 53-year-old Shraddha Sandeep Ghosalkar, an officer in the Flying Squad of the Rationing Department, reported that her team received intelligence about individuals stealing diesel from tankers in Sewree.

The Flying Squad team from the Controller of Rationing and Director of Civil Supplies conducted a raid and discovered that some individuals were indeed stealing diesel from an Indian Oil tanker.

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Upon the arrival of the Flying Squad team, some individuals fled the scene, while others were apprehended. One of the apprehended individuals was identified as Sanjay Ramchandra Chavan. During the interrogation by the Flying Squad team, Chavan admitted to planning to extract diesel from the tanker and deliver it to the Vessels Unit Tug K N Jyoti Mumbai Port Buyer Number 0000148941.

About 12,000 litres of diesel stolen from Indian Oil tankers

Chavan, who claimed to have worked for Ashish Transport Company for the past 25 years, revealed that they had stolen approximately 12,000 litres of diesel from Indian Oil tankers, which has now been confiscated.

A police official from Sewree stated that the accused were stealing 150 to 200 litres of diesel daily, selling it at Rs 65 per litre.

Upon raiding the location, Flying Squad officers observed Chavan and the truck cleaner climbing the Indian Oil tanker with an iron rod, breaking its seal, and stealing diesel through a pipe.

Stolen diesel seized

The police seized stolen diesel valued at Rs 19 lakh from the site. In response, the police have registered an FIR against several individuals, including Sanjay Chavan, Hamidar Rehman, owner of Ashish Transport, Mohammad Khan, Arif Khan, Alil Khasa, Salim Fawda, Akbar Khan, Mustaq Khan, and Malkau Moin.

The police officer mentioned that the accused face charges under various sections of the Essential Commodities Act 1955, and an investigation is ongoing.

Given that the stolen diesel was transported in a truck and subsequently delivered, an FIR has also been filed against the truck owner. The accused used to transfer the stolen diesel from tankers to drums and sell these drums by transporting them in trucks.

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This story was first published on the Free Press Journal.