Petrol pump scam busted in UP has pan-India links, masterminds held from Pune and Thane

The UP STF has so far arrested about 28 persons in this case registered at the Para police station in Lucknow, under sections 267, 420, 472, 473, 484, 485, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). STF Additional SP Arvind Chaturvedi said that Vivek Shetye and Naik, arrested from Maharashtra, are one of the masterminds. “Vivek was allegedly involved in manufacturing of the electronic chips and software installation. Naik was allegedly involved in assembling and supplying the remotes, which were used for tampering the fuel dispensing units at the petrol pumps,” he said.

Chaturvedi said that once the chip was installed in the fuel-dispensing unit, it reduces the output by 5 to 8 per cent. “If a customer goes to a petrol pump for refuelling 1 litre petrol in his vehicle, he actually gets on 940 ml petrol as the chip fitted in the fuel dispensing machine does the trick. The 60 ml fuel goes into the account of the pump owner,” he said.

Chaturvedi said the petrol pump scam is worth Rs 800 crore per month in UP alone. “This is happening at most of the 62,000 petrol pumps across the country. The scam could be more than Rs 8,000 crore per month in the country. And it has been going on for 10 years now. You can just imagine, how big the scam is,” he said.

Chaturvedi said, “In our first raid on April 28, we had arrested 23 people after seven petrol pumps in Lucknow city were found using electronic chip linked with remote controls in their fuel-dispensing machines to cheat consumers by providing them less fuel. More petrol pumps were found using these electronic chips during the probe. The UP government then ordered checking of all petrol pumps in the state. It is a challenge to check about 6,000 petrol pumps in UP. And, it was important to know how the electronic chips and remotes used in this scam were manufactured. Based on leads during the investigation, our team went to Maharashtra and arrested Vivek Shetye from Thane and Avinash Naik from Pune.”

“From the probe so far, we can say that the two accused persons are masterminds and they have pan-India connections. We suspect many petrol pumps in the country have purchased the electronic chips and remotes from the racketeers for tampering their fuel dispensing units,” said Chaturvedi.

Police have recovered 110 micro chips, 21 RX Receivers, Remotes, Display Boards, a Laptop, an Oscilloscope, a Pen drive with software and other items from Shetye’s Micro CKT workshop located in Dileep Nagar, Vico Naka, Kalyansheel road in Dombivali East, Manpada, Thane. Also, police recovered 177 Remotes, 189 RX Receivers, a Laptop, 50 Remote Cells from Naik’s workplace, Vigil System Company, at Jai Ganesh Vision in Akurdi. STF took the accused persons to UP after taking their transit remands from the local courts.

The Vigil System in Akurdi is run by Jeetendra Patil. The board on the shop says Vigil Systems offers wide range of innovate products: RF Remote operated Bike and Car Security System, 2 way car security system, Burglar Alarm System.

On Monday, the shop was closed. When contacted, Jeetendra Patil said Naik stays in Akurdi and is his only employee. “The allegations levelled against him that he develops the chip is false. We procure the remote from other agencies based in Mumbai and Delhi. The remotes are modified for use for remote-operated car and bike system,” he said, adding that Naik has no hand in developing the chips as was being alleged.

Patil said he had spoken to Naik after he was picked by the police. “Naik told me that police had cleared him of the charges and he will be let off soon. I will be going to Lucknow tomorrow,” he told this paper.