Manjunath killing: angry IOC demands action against mafia

Among the officials present at the meeting were V K Sood, executive director, human resources, Mumbai, and A M K Sinha, general manager, retail (all India). The marathon meeting, which began shortly after noon, continued till late evening. Officials expressed their apprehension over the deep inroads made by the petrol and diesel mafia in the retail oil business in Uttar Pradesh. ‘‘Today it is Manjunath, tomorrow it can be somebody else,’’ remarked a district area sales officer.

The IOC has around 1,200 petrol dealers in Uttar Pradesh. According to information available with the State Petrol Dealers’ Association, there are about 2,200 dealers of the four major oil companies in the State.

The IOC officials today stressed the need to impose strict control over the business community. While conceding that all the dealers were not corrupt, they added that there should be government measures to boost the honest players.

The issue of adulteration of diesel with kerosene oil by a sizeable number of petrol pump owners was also discussed. As the general manager, marketing, UP and Uttaranchal, Sharat Meshram, who is also the State coordinator of the oil industry, said: ‘‘The price difference between petrol and diesel and the largescale adulteration of diesel with kerosene oil lured people into the trade as they were assured of healthy profit margins. While the market price of diesel is around Rs 35 per litre, kerosene oil is priced at Rs 10 to Rs 11 per litre in the PDS system.’’

The president of the State Petrol Dealers’ Association, B N Shukla, himself admitted that there were several irregularities in the oil trade. ‘‘Mitti ke tel mein sab mazaa le rahe hain, mitti ka tel kaajal ki kothri hai jisme sab kaale hain,’’ he told.

However, he quickly pointed out that allotment of petrol pumps is done by the oil companies themselves. Blaming the malpractice on kerosene oil subsidy, Shukla added: ‘‘If subsidy goes, adulteration will end. No inspections will be needed and no honest official will be killed.’’

Later, a delegation of IOC officials led by Sood also met the Principal Secretary, Home, Alok Sinha. According to an official press release, Sinha asked Sood to ensure the cooperation of IOC officials and staff in Sitapur and Lakhimpur-Kheri in police investigations.