Shipping containers used as fuel stations
Thriving racket in illegal sale of diesel in Mumbai
Surging fuel prices in the city have given miscreants an opportunity to cash in, by supplying low-quality fuel at below-market rates. The Crime Branch Control Unit of the Economic Offences Wing has registered a criminal offence against the directors of the MS Westcare Joint Venture Company, for allegedly setting up two illegal fuel stations in Dharavi and Mahim. The racket had been in operation for the last two months, police said.
The company, which provides Clean-Up vehicles to the BMC, is alleged to have used adulterated diesel in the vehicles and submitted inflated bills to the BMC, police said. The accused would also allegedly sell the diesel to others. The supervisor of the company, identified as Indrasingh Rathod, was arrested on Thursday night.
The arrest came on a day when fuel prices in Mumbai were hiked yet again, with petrol costing Rs 93.20 and diesel at Rs 83.67 a litre respectively.
According to Joint Commissioner of Police, EOW, Niket Kaushik, specific information was received on Thursday morning that diesel was being illegally stored in huge tanks within two shipping containers on the footpath and there was large-scale illegal sale of diesel in Dharavi and Mahim areas. Subsequently, a team led by Police Inspector Nitin Patil conducted raids and arrested Rathod. In the raid,13,550 litres of diesel stored in tanks were seized by police, along with other equipment, like diesel dispensers/pumps.
According to Inspector Patil, “The said company had undertaken a contract with the BMC to supply the latter Clean-Up vehicles. The company would run their vehicles for the BMC and bill the civic body for services rendered and fuel consumed. The BMC had given permission to the company to set up office space for their operations. The company then set up containers on the footpaths of Mahim and Dharavi and inside these containers, they had stored tanks filled with adulterated diesel.
“The said containers were being used as illegal fuel stations. Apart from using the said diesel in their vehicles, the accused would also sell diesel to others cheaper than the prevailing market rate. They would procure cheap diesel from Khopoli for Rs 60/65 per litre. We have made the directors of the company as accused. We will trace them and call them for questioning. The racket was underway for the past two months. This diesel is bad for vehicles and also results in more pollution.”
A case has been registered at Dharavi police station under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Essential Commodities Act and the Motor Spirit High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) order.