3 arrested for fuel adulteration, 7 petrol pump owners booked

Muzaffarnagar/Bijnor: After the arrest of Muzaffarnagar district supply officer (DSO) a few days ago, Saharanpur police picked up three people allegedly involved in fuel adulteration. More than 2,000 litres of adulterated petrol was also recovered. It came days after police had busted a racket involving a 12-member gang who used to steal fuel from pipelines in Saharanpur.

On Wednesday, SSP Akash Singh Tomar said, "We are working in coordination with the local supply department to ensure that such illegal activities don't happen here again. After a tip-off, police raided vacant premises and arrested Amit Kumar, Sunil Kumar and Situ Kumar. Further investigation is on."

The stolen fuel, petrol and diesel, used to be sold through unlicenced 'petrol pumps' in Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. The 12-member gang had earlier stolen at least a lakh litres of diesel and petrol in the past two years in 16 incidents in western UP and Uttarakhand.

Following investigation, involvement of DSO, BK Shukla, was established. He was then arrested and sent to jail.

Meanwhile, in Bijnor, seven people, including petrol pump owners, were booked. The supply department on Tuesday launched a crackdown and found their involvement in adulterated petrol and diesel in the district.

The DSO has now registered a case against nine people under relevant sections of the IPC. The accused are still at large.

Bijnor DSO Dhruv Raj Yadav said, "Several people have been booked. Their machines have been confiscated and samples of fuel were collected for testing. The crackdown is still on."