Gang digs tunnel, steals diesel worth 1.3 lakh kilo litres from pipeline in Hyd

Investigating officials said that in total, around 1,30,601 kilo litres of diesel were stolen, worth seven full tankers.
Gang digs tunnel, steals diesel worth 1.3 lakh kilo litres from pipeline in Hyd
Gang digs tunnel, steals diesel worth 1.3 lakh kilo litres from pipeline in Hyd
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The Rachakonda police on Thursday busted an interstate gang and arrested four people for alleged theft of 1.3 lakh kilo litres of diesel from a pipeline of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) near Hyderabad’s Cherlapally area.

The police said that they had identified 12 people who were involved in the operation and cash worth Rs 90.40 lakh was recovered.

“The accused hatched a plan to commit theft of diesel from a running pipeline which leads to Cherlapally from Ghatkesar. As per the plan, they took a land for lease in the name of accused Hafeez Aziz Chowdari which was around 2 km from the pipeline. They constructed one shed surrounded by a compound wall and started making a tunnel from inside the shed to the pipeline,” the police said in a press release.

“After making the hole and fixing a clamp with valve along the pipe, they also fixed one electrical motor and connected the same to tankers and committed theft of 84,365 kilolitres of diesel from BPCL and 46,236 kilo litres from IOC,” the police added.

Cash seized from the accused

Investigating officials said that in total, around 1,30,601 kilo litres of diesel were stolen, worth seven full tankers.

As far as selling off the diesel was concerned, the police said that four other accused; Jayakrishna, Srikanth, Vasu and Sunil, were mediators tasked with disposing the stolen diesel.

“They have engaged two tankers and sold the diesel in different area like Warangal, Bachupally, Burugula, Koyalkonda and Dharmabad,” the press release stated.

The police said that a case had been registered under Section 379 (Punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Amendment Act, 2011.

One of the accused Hafeez Aziz Chowdari was arrested by the Nampally police in 2013 in a fake currency case, and in 2015 by Juhu police in Mumbai, for the same crime. Mohd Abdul Abrar, another accused, was also arrested in 2015 by the Mumbai police for a fake currency case, the Rachakonda police said.

Chand Shaik, one of the absconding accused had also been arrested in 2013 by the Mumbai police for diesel theft and in 2015 in a robbery case.

A special team has been formed to apprehend the absconding accused.

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