Politician demands fuel check in Bihar 2 days after his car was filled with water

Stating his demand was in the larger interest of the common people, the one-time MLA, who represented West Champaran’s Sikta assembly, said, “It has left none in doubt that adulteration in automobile fuel has become rampant in Bihar.”

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) leader Birendra Gupta on Wednesday demanded a quality check of automobile fuel across Bihar two days after his vehicle’s tank was allegedly filled with water instead of fossil fuel at a petrol pump in East Champaran.

Representational image. (HT Archive)

Stating his demand was in the larger interest of the common people, the one-time MLA, who represented West Champaran’s Sikta assembly, said, “It has left none in doubt that adulteration in automobile fuel has become rampant in Bihar. The plight of common people can be anybody’s guess in a state where a [former] MLA is not spared by the fuel dispensers.”

Gupta alleged that the revelation came to fore on Monday when his vehicle, on way to Patna from Sikta, came to a grinding halt. “After very little fuel left in the tank, I got it filled at a fuel near Mehsi (in East Champaran). But it stopped running after moving for hardly 500 metres. A mechanic found water filled in the tank,” MLA told this newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Mehsi police in East Champaran district registered a case (220/21) against the petrol pump owner under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code among other relevant sections.

Sunil Kumar Singh, station house officer (SHO), Mehsi police station, on Wednesday said a sample of the fuel has been handed over to the authorities for verification. “The report is awaited,” the SHO said.