Thane police seal petrol pump in Hadapsar for using illegal IC chips

According to the police, the IC chips enable pulsars in the machine to dispense lesser petrol.

Petrol dispensing machines of Vidya petrol pump at Vaiduwadi in Hadapsar were sealed by the Thane crime branch on Tuesday midnight for the use of illegal integrated circuit (IC) chips for delivering a lesser quantity of petrol that the input amount.

Cops seized the pulsar, an electronic card, from one of the petrol-dispensing units and has sent it for lab testing. (HT File Photo)

Senior police inspector Vishnu Pawar of Hadapsar police station said, “We were totally unaware about the raid. When contacted, the petrol pump owners informed us that the pump has sealed by the Thane crime branch. Thane crime branch police had already visited the pump earlier for investigation, but this time, they took strong action.”

According to the police, the IC chips enable pulsars in the machine to dispense lesser petrol. Cops seized the pulsar, an electronic card, from one of the petrol-dispensing units and has sent it for lab testing.

Police discovered that the quantity of petrol dispensed was 100ml lesser that the input amount for every five litre of petrol. The petrol pump owner, Deepak Gupta, is absconding since Tuesday.

Maharashtra DGP Satish Mathur had given special permission to the crime branch of Thane police to raid petrol pumps across the state. Following the move, they had conducted over 100 raids across Maharashtra.