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Land on rent, high walls & tunnels – how a Rajasthan gang ‘stole’ crude oil from Indian Oil Corporation

It was during a routine maintenance activity that officials of the IOC realised there could be a leak.

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The leased land in Shahjahanpur village.

Leased land, high-security walls and 100-metre-long tunnels. That’s how a gang had allegedly been stealing crude oil from an Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) pipeline in Kotputli-Behror district for four months.

On Wednesday, the Rajasthan Police claimed to have busted a major operation near Belni Marg in Shahjahanpur village. According to the police, some unknown suspects took a bigha of land on lease for Rs 15,000/month, and built two rooms and 10-feet high walls around it to hide their operations. They then used this set up to extract crude oil from an IOC pipeline that ran across the land.

According to the police, the suspects took a bigha of land on lease for Rs 15,000/month, and built two rooms and 10-feet high walls around it to hide their operations. (Express Photo)

“The farm was rented in the name of Arjun Ram, son of Gangaram Goswami, a resident of Hisar (Haryana) in August for a ‘junk business’,” Pukhraj, the Station House Officer of Shahjahanpur Police Station, told The Indian Express. “The address given in the document was found to be false…The suspects escaped before the police could reach them.”

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It was during a routine maintenance on December 27 that officials from the IOC allegedly realised the pressure in the pipeline was low and that there could be a leak. They then used their equipment to trace this leak to the exact location.

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“A complaint in the case was registered Monday evening,” Shiv Kumar Bhardhwaj, Additional SP, SOG, said.

When questioned, the owner of the land denied any knowledge of the activities, Pukhraj said, adding that investigation was still ongoing and the full extent of the operation would be known only later.

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