JOIN USOil theft racket at RTPS unearthed
Though there have been rumours about this in the past, the unearthing of fuel theft by the Central Industrial Security Force four days back has confirmed that an oil mafia has been operating surreptitiously at the RTPS.
On Monday, Superintendent of Police T R Suresh sought information from RTPS Executive Director Nagaraj about the theft of 2,000 litres of oil from a tanker supplied to the thermal power station by Mumbai-based Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.
The theft came to light when CISF officer Dayanand Singh and his personnel decided to inspect an oil tanker after it had ‘emptied’ its contents into the storage tank at RTPS. When CISF personnel inspected the tanker closely, they found that the insides of the tanker had been rigged to retain a minimum of 2,000 litres of oil. The driver of the tanker has been absconding after the CISF exposed the racket.
It is now suspected that an executive engineer and two other RTPS staff were involved in the racket, apart from tanker contractors and drivers.
While an investigation into the incident is on, representatives of BPCL are expected to visit the thermal power station soon.