Navi Mumbai: 6,000 litres of diesel worth Rs5.6 lakh stolen from BPCL pipeline

Navi Mumbai: The Rabale MIDC police station has filed a case against unknown persons for allegedly stealing diesel worth Rs 5.6 lakh from the underground pipeline of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited near the Shilphata highway.

The alleged theft took place in the intervening night of December 22 and December 23, according to a complaint filed by Santosh Ugle, manager of the pipeline network of BPCL between Mumbai to Vashala (Shahapur taluka), at the Rabale MIDC police station.

BPCL’s Chembur control room detected a low-pressure zone in the diesel pipeline at 1.30 am on December 22 near the Shilphata highway. When a team of BPCL technicians reached the spot near the warning marker number 25 of the pipeline by 3.30 am with necessary equipment, they noticed a small iron sheet shed erected along the pipeline around a 5 to 6 feet deep ditch which was filled with diesel. They noticed a puncture in the pipeline, through which they suspect the perpetrators stole around 6000 lts of diesel worth around Rs5.6 lakh. The team called the police at the site.

The Rabale MIDC police registered a case under IPC Act sections 379 (theft), 427 (mischief causing damage), 511 (an attempt to steal) and sections 15 (2), 15(4) of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipeline Acquisition Right User Inland Act including section 3 of Public Property Damage Act.

The Rabale MIDC police are checking the CCTV footage of nearby areas.

Meanwhile, a police official said that the act was not professional as diesel was withdrawn by just making a small puncture without fitting a valve which caused the leakage.

An official from the NMMC Fire Department said the accumulated diesel in the ditch could have proven dangerous for them.

Published on: Tuesday, December 27, 2022, 08:41 PM IST