27 October,2026 06:28 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Acting on the information, the rationing department’s flying squad raided the location and seized both tankers. Pic/ Special Arrangement
The Mumbai-Thane Rationing Department has seized two tankers and approximately 39,000 litres of fuel and petroleum-like liquid worth Rs 94.37 lakh during a crackdown on suspected illegal fuel siphoning in Navi Mumbai's Turbhe area.
A case has been registered against five people at Turbhe Police Station in connection with the Navi Mumbai illegal fuel siphoning.
The seized material comprises around 14,000 litres of diesel and 25,000 litres of petroleum-like liquid. The total estimated value of the seized goods is Rs 94,36,708, according to the department.
The action followed information that diesel was allegedly being siphoned from tanker WB 19 L 2981, which was transporting diesel, and transferred into the fuel tank of another tanker, MH 46 BM 9202.
Acting on the information, the rationing department's flying squad raided the location and seized both tankers along with the fuel and petroleum-like substances found in them.
A case has been registered against five accused at Turbhe Police Station in Navi Mumbai.
The accused include the driver-owners of both tankers and a person associated with a business owned by an individual identified as Arun, whose full name was not available in the department's statement.
Further investigation into the case is being conducted by Turbhe Police.
The joint operation was carried out by officers and staff from the team of Deputy Controller of Rationing (Enforcement) Ganesh Bellale, under the guidance of Controller of Rationing and Director of Civil Supplies, Mumbai, Chandrakant Dange.
In a similar incident earlier in September, two tanker drivers and a local buyer were booked for allegedly stealing industrial oil and misappropriating vehicles worth Rs 50 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said.
According to police, the drivers diverted tankers carrying 2,650 litres of furnace oil and 12,080 kg of industrial oil to allegedly siphon off fuel and sell it to a local vendor in Bhiwandi.
Based on a complaint lodged by an employee of Jupiter Petrochem, Nizampur Police registered a case under Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), an official said.
