A tunnel, valve & plastic pipes: How thieves stole from Indian Oil’s pipeline in Dwarka
Police have arrested the owner of the plot, a property dealer called Rakesh, who they suspect is involved in the theft. They are looking for at least four other accused who had rented the premises.
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The tunnel was hidden under bundles of hay. (Express File Photo) In September-end, while inspecting supply inside a pipeline in the Delhi-Panipat section, officials of Indian Oil Corporation Limited smelt something fishy — there was an anomaly in the pressure, hinting at the possibility of a leak. Following a complaint on Wednesday, police arrived at the stretch in question, looking for a spot from where oil could be possibly pilfered. Their search ended a few metres away, at a plot in Dwarka’s Pochanpur village, inside a cow shed.
Hidden under bundles of fodder, police found that a 15-feet deep underground tunnel had been dug up on the premises, which was being used to pilfer oil from the Indian Oil pipeline, almost on a daily basis, using just two tools: a valve machine, and a pair of plastic pipes.
Police have arrested the owner of the plot, a property dealer called Rakesh, who they suspect is involved in the theft. They are looking for at least four other accused who had rented the premises.
“The tunnel was deep… and around 40 metres away from the pipeline. The accused used a machine to drill into the pipeline; using a valve machine, they inserted two plastic pipes into it. The men used to regulate the pressure of the oil using the valve. One of them used to go down the tunnel almost every day to pilfer varying amounts of oil,” said an officer.
A case under Section 15 of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right User in Land) Amendment Act, 2011, and the Explosive Substances Act has been lodged. Said police, “The tunnel opened at a plot near an independent house located nearby… the landlord had rented it out to around 4-5 people a few months ago. During this time, the accused started digging the tunnel as they knew the pipeline ran a few metres away from their plot on the main road… this occurred in connivance with the landlord.”
Said another officer, “The tunnel was covered by hay inside a cow shed, so no one would suspect anything. It possibly took one or two weeks for the accused to dig the tunnel. After collecting the oil, they stored it in tanks that they had bought for the purpose and carried it in their vehicles…”
Police said they are yet to ascertain what the accused did with the stolen oil. “Prima facie, it seems the accused pilfered at least 500-1,000 litres of oil daily,” said the officer quoted above.
Petrol and diesel passing through this pipeline reach the Bijwasan Oil Depot, said officials.
Said DCP (Dwarka) Harsh Vardhan, “We are looking for the other accused to unearth the larger oil-theft racket and are ascertaining the amount of oil that’s been pilfered so far. It seems the accused had technical knowledge of pilfering oil through pipelines.” An Indian Oil spokesperson didn’t respond to request for comment.cccc
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