<![CDATA[MUMBAI: Despite heavy security in and around Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), the oil mafia continues to trouble companies supplying fuel to the city. Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizer(RCF) police station busted a major diesel racket right under the nose of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) sub-station. Police arrested a gang of nine, including owners of a bakery owner and a petrol pump from Pune. Two tankers, one lakh litres of diesel worth nearly Rs 62 lakh, Rs 93,000 in cash, plastic pipes and water pumps were seized from the accused. The accused have been stealing diesel for a year but neither the oil company nor BPT security personnel got a sniff of the racket. Gang leader Salim went underground immediately after the police raid and arrests. This is third such racket in less than a year where accused have drilled into oil pipes, stolen huge quantities of oil and sold it illegally at throwaway prices. Police said RCF police got a tip-off, and after keeping a watch for two days, five were caught stealing diesel by parking a tanker near a secluded area near sub-station 4 of BPCL in Chembur last week. "People would think a tanker is parked, but we found the ladder of the tanker had hollow pipes till the ground, and from the ground, they were connected to a pipe from where they were stealing diesel. When our team followed the pipe, it took us 25 meters from the main road to inside, where they had dug in two metres and had connected it to the BPCL main connection," said Shahaji Umap, deputy commissioner of police (zone VI). Police arrested Hasim Yunus Choudhary, Riyaaz Babloo Khan, Kishore Shirshod, Deepak Muniraj and Abdul Salim Shaikh. During interrogation, it transpired that the accused were stealing diesel and selling it to Parvez Khan of AMK Enterprises, Indian Oil pump owner, at Kondhwa Road in Pune. They also sold diesel to three bakeries in Pune. Based on this, police arrested Parvez Khan and Golden Bakery owner Nasir Ansari. Later, Muniraj revealed they also sold stolen diesel to oil trader, Kasim Shabbir Ali Govani in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Police seized Govani's car and are planning to invoke the stringent MCOCA, to serve as a deterrent for others.]]>
