E-Paper
Five arrested for stealing oil from IOC pipeline
A theft of around 13,000 liter diesel was detected from the pipeline on December 14 and 15 in Jagir Vihar colony of Shahbad Markanda town of Kurukshetra district
: The Kurukshetra police claimed to have busted an inter-state gang with the arrest of five people involved in the theft of oil from the underground pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation.
The accused have been identified as Swaran Singh of New Delhi, Abid, Nafees and Rashid Khan of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Sompal of Sonepat.
Kurukshetra superintendent of police Surender Singh Bhoria said that officials of IOC Ambala had filed a police complaint on December 7 alleging theft of oil from the high pressure Panipat-Ambala-Jalandhar Pipeline (PAJPL).
Bhoria said that a theft of around 13,000 liter diesel was detected from the pipeline on December 14 and 15 in Jagir Vihar colony of Shahbad Markanda town of Kurukshetra district. It was carried out by fixing a valve in the pipeline.
Bhoria said that the accused had collected the details of the area from where the pipeline was crossing and later they purchased plots near the pipeline. They installed a valve in the pipeline with the help of drill machines and stole the oil.
The police also recovered ₹4 lakh cash, 65liter diesel, a safety tank, 4 mobile phones and an SUV from their possession, he said.
The SP said that Swaran Singh was also involved in several cases of oil theft in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the Kurukshetra district court in 2015 and he carried an award of ₹5,000.
