Delhi Police arrest six for stealing 'lakhs of litres' of aviation fuel from IOCL pipelines

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday said that they had arrested six people for their alleged involvement in a massive operation to steal aviation fuel running into lakhs of litres from the pipelines of Indian Oil Corporation Limited in and around the National Capital Region. After the arrest, the Crime Branch claimed that they had recovered 1,100 litres of stolen aviation fuel and oil from the accused.

Police identified the accused as Sanjay Dhawan, Mukesh Kumar, Samay Pal, Avlesh, Himanshu and Sanjay. As per investigators, there were many complaints of a gang stealing petrol, diesel and aviation oil from the supply pipelines of the IOCL. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bhisham Singh said that they arrested all these criminals near Mundka–Nihal Vihar road.

Singh said that Samay and Mukesh knew where the pipelines were located and had been involved in stealing fuel for at least one and a half years. Police said the gang always operated under the cover of darkness and preferred to choose points along the pipeline that can provide them some amount of cover - such as in a field of full-grown crops.

DCP Singh said that Avlesh and Himanshu used to dig a hole above the pipeline while two members of the gang were deployed to keep watch for any person or vehicle coming toward them. They then fitted a valve with the help of a clamp on the pipeline before drilling into it with a specifically made hand run drilling machine through the valve.

Police added that they would then attach a pipe on the valves and put the other end inside tankers and trucks they brought along. One official said that the gang usually used 20,000-litre tankers for their operations and had carried out as many as 100 operations in the last two and a half years. The accused would then close the valve and fill the hole above the pipeline with mud and soil before fleeing.

The stolen oil was usually sold to players who would further sell it on retail illegally to other users. One official said, "The investigation is going on from all angles." All these accused were found involved in around 20 criminal cases, police added.