Indore
At least four persons, including a tanker owner, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly stealing diesel and petrol by storing it in a secret chamber created inside the tankers, police said.
Police also seized seven tankers worth Rs 1.4 crore, all of which have secret chambers.
SP (West) Mahesh Chandra Jain said that following a complaint of a petrol pump manager, tanker owner Pintu Rathore resident of Bhikangaon (now staying in Manglia), tanker driver Dilip Kelkar, helper Ajay Kelkar, all residents of Agar Malwa district, and mechanic, Chandrashekhar Narwaria, who made the secret chambers, were arrested.
The police have booked the accused under section 420, 379 of the IPC and further investigation is on.
The SP said that Rathore had paid Rs 35,000 to the mechanic to build a special chamber inside his tankers which is locally called a 'chor compartment'. Jain said about 250 litres of petrol or diesel can be secretly stored in the secret compartment of tankers.
“This part is opened and closed through a valve with the help of an iron key," he said.
The accused used to open this secret compartment while filling tankers at depots of oil companies and keep it closed till emptying tankers at the petrol pumps. Later, they used to sell the stored fuel, he said.
SP Jain said that following complaint by manager of Prateek Petrol Pump who had received 200 litres less diesel from a tanker, police started investigating the case.
Khudel police received information that some men were stealing fuel from the tankers by making a secret compartment in the tankers and causing loss to the petrol pump owners.
On the instruction of DSP Ajay Vajpayee, a team reached a petrol pump on Kampel Road and found a tanker parked there. The police checked the tanker and found the secret compartment situated between the two lids of the tanker.
They questioned the driver Dilip and helper Ajay and they informed that the tanker was owned by Pintu Rathore and all three were arrested. They divulged the name of mechanic Chandrashekhar Narwaria who had made the secret compartments in his workshop at Dewas Naka and he too was arrested.
