19 vehicles of CM Mohan Yadav's convoy had to be towed after water was reportedly filled instead of diesel in them.
Credit: X/@PTI
A VIP convoy of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav came to a standstill on Thursday while en route to Ratlam as one after another vehicle broke down in quick succession.
According to a report by NDTV, CM Yadav was going to attend an event scheduled for Friday in Ratlam when 19 SUVs of his convoy faced the issue and began jerking and stalling. The drivers had to push the vehicles off the road.
While a replacement fleet was arranged for the chief minister, authorities also mulled over a possible reason that could have led to the embarrassment. The suspicion zeroed down to a possible diesel adulteration at a local pump where all the vehicles had stopped for refuelling.
As per the report, Shubham Verma, a driver from the convoy said, "The issue began with one or two vehicles, but soon all of them came to a halt."
"We had filled over 350 litres of diesel from a local petrol pump. When we confronted the staff, they denied any possibility of contamination. But a local resident showed us a bottle filled from the same pump - it had visible layers of diesel and water," he added.
An inspection done by the Food and Civil Supplies Department after collecting samples of the diesel confirmed the presence of water in the fuel supplied by the station.
Food Department officer Anand Gole said that the department is conducting a detailed investigation into the matter and will submit its report to Ratlam collector.
The petrol pump has been sealed for now while the staff refused to comment on the matter.