Mumbai: City crime branch investigating the furnace oil pilferage racket, which it busted last September, has arrested three more people. A tanker owner and two drivers. The accused are identified as Suresh Bhanushali (56), Mustaq Shaikh (28) and Aftak Ashfaq Khan (23).
In September, crime branch unit 9 had busted a gang for pilfering furnace oil from the tankers.
The gang was operating in connivance with drivers working for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). According to an officer, after the tankers would leave JNPT in Uran for the refinery in Mahul, the gang would pilfer oil from the tankers on the route with the help of the drivers.
The tankers would then be filled with water before their onward journey to the refinery.
During their operation in September, crime branch unit 9 has arrested three tanker drivers named Mohammad Yakub Siddique (26), Shafu Khan (48) and Raju Saroj (32) and seized 14,800 litres of adulterated furnace oil. Three tankers were seized then. Two more tanker owners were arrested later.
According ti the officer, the crime branch received information that the three wanted accused in the case were coming to hotel Bharat in Ghatkopar on Thursday.
A team then laid a trap and arrested the three. They were produced in the court on Friday. They are now in police custody.
