3 more factories sealed, 20k litre crude seized
DISCLOSURE Stolen crude oil was transported in water tankers and supplied to factories in nearby Jalore district by the transporters
The Barmer district police on Sunday made a new revelation in the oil scam claiming that crude stolen from Barmer was also being supplied to factories in nearby Jalore district.
Three such factories were sealed and 20,000-litre of crude was recovered, said Gagandeep Singla, superintendent of police, Barmer.
The police also seized one more tanker involved in oil theft and arrested two prime accused in the case.
Earlier, the police had sealed two factories in Barmer and recovered 46,000-litre of crude.
Giving details of the latest disclosures, Singla said that a special team, led by sub-inspector Omprakash Bishnoi and assistant sub-inspector Pannaram, investigating the oil scam got a tip-off that crude stolen from Barmer was being supplied to factories in nearby Jalore district.
The information was passed to the Jalore police, which formed three teams to locate the factories, he said. Later, a police team from Barmer joined the Jalore police and raided the three factories, one in Sanchore and two in Siwada.
According to the police, when they raided a factory at Bidhani village in Sanchore, they found 20,000-litre crude.
“Collected sample has been sent to the Cairn laboratory and after getting the report further action will be taken,” Singla said.
The factory was owned by Manju Construction Company.
Later, a police team raided another factory owned by Kuldeep Transport Company in Siwada.
Apart from recovering crude oil from an underground tank, a white colour chemical was also seized from the factory.
Police suspect the accused used the chemical for making diesel.
The police also seized one more factory on Chitalwana Road in Siwada suspecting that the accused stored stolen crude oil there.
Following a tip-off, a police team, led by deputy superintendent of police Omprakash Ujjawal, also arrested two prime accused, Panacharam Bishnoi and Dholaram Bishnoi, from the Rageshwari police station area.
The police impounded an oil tanker, which was being used to transport crude to a processing unit. The police seized 2,200 litre of crude from the tanker.
The accused told the police that they had been stealing crude from the tanker and replacing it with water.
The accused were trying to supply the stolen crude to Gautam Singh Rajpurohit in Barmer and some traders in Jaipur when they were caught, the police said.