Ahmedabad, Aug 11 (IANS) An alleged interstate network involved in illegally tapping an HPCL crude oil pipeline in Rajasthan and transporting the stolen oil to Gujarat for sale has been busted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Rajasthan Police, with eight people arrested, officials said on Tuesday.
The operation followed information received by Gujarat ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police S.L. Chaudhary that people from Gujarat and Rajasthan were allegedly conspiring to puncture an HPCL crude oil pipeline passing through wasteland in Rajasthan’s Balotra district.
According to the information received by the ATS, the stolen crude oil was to be brought to Gujarat and sold along the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway.
After informing senior ATS officers, a team was formed under the leadership of Superintendent of Police K. Siddharth and the supervision of DSP Chaudhary.
Acting on the information, the team detained a suspect under Section 35(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, near Sokhada village on the road from the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway towards Kuwadva.
During questioning about the crude oil found in his possession, he allegedly told the police that it had been brought from Kaludi village in Balotra district of Rajasthan.
The ATS subsequently detained seven more alleged members of the network from a dhaba (restaurant) near Tapra in Rajasthan and took them to Jasol Police Station.
During questioning, the suspects allegedly disclosed that they had dug a three-to-four-foot-deep pit in wasteland in the limits of Kaludi village in Parpadar taluka of Balotra district, illegally punctured the HPCL crude oil pipeline and fitted a valve to siphon off the oil.
The ATS informed HPCL officials and, along with Rajasthan Police, inspected the location. An illegally fitted valve was found connected to the punctured pipeline inside the pit, according to the police.
A case was registered at Jasol Police Station under Sections 303(2), 287 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Sections 15(1), 15(2), 15(4) and 16 of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Amendment Act, 2011, and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
The eight arrested accused have been identified as Ghanshyam Soni, 54, of Nagalpur in Mehsana; Jayrajsinh Chudasama, 34, of Dhoraji in Rajkot; Mukesh Kumar Meghwal, 44, originally from Jaswantpura in Jalore, Rajasthan, and currently residing in Pabunagar, Ahmedabad; Ranjit Chaurasia, 48, of Kalol in Gandhinagar; Ramesh Thakur, 41, of Chalasana in Mehsana; Sureji Thakur, 32, of Jotana in Mehsana; Mahesh Thakur, 32, of Chalasana in Mehsana; and Dilip Yadav, 35, of Aspur in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the investigation is continuing to identify and trace other people allegedly involved in the network.
–IANS
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