Two held for smuggling oil

The special squad of the Mumbai police arrested two members of the oil smuggling mafia for illegally purchasing diesel from a foreign ship at a cheaper rate and selling the same in Indian markets at almost three times the price.

The special squad of the Mumbai police arrested two members of the oil smuggling mafia for illegally purchasing diesel from a foreign ship at a cheaper rate and selling the same in Indian markets at almost three times the price.

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The accused were handed over to the Yellow Gate police for further investigation on Sunday.

The police also seized the Sagar Sevak, a ship valued at around Rs 11 crore. Sagar Sevak was stationed at the dumping yard and was used by the accused to store the stolen diesel.

Police revealed that the accused had sold around two lakh litres of diesel worth Rs 76 lakh in the last month.

While the Sagar Sevak's owner is not traceable, the two men arrested have been identified as Kadar and Akbar (last names not revealed by police). Police also withheld the name of the foreign ship.

"We received intelligence on Thursday that the Sagar Sevak was anchored off the Alibaug coast since the past one year and was being used as a floating petrol pump. Following the tip-off, we raided the ship," said Rakesh Sharma, police inspector of the special squad.

The accused revealed that they took fuel from the foreign ship at a cheap rate (Rs 8 per litre) and smuggled it to Mumbai's coast where they sold it at Rs 28 to Rs 30 per litre to petrol pumps in the city.

Police added that the owner of the Al Vasila, a ship seized a week earlier, corroborated the evidence, admitting to buying diesel from the foreign ship at cut prices.