04 September,2026 05:18 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Based on a complaint lodged by an employee of Jupiter Petrochem, Nizampur Police registered a case. Representational Pic
Two tanker drivers and a local buyer have been booked for allegedly stealing industrial oil and misappropriating vehicles worth Rs 50 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.
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 on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.
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.
The tanker drivers have been identified as Mahesh Santram Yadav, 32, and Kamal Ahmad Mohammad Alam Ansari, 25, both residents of Uttar Pradesh. The alleged buyer, Javed Shaalam Khan, 35, is a resident of Khadipar in Bhiwandi.
The official said Yadav had been entrusted with a tanker carrying 2,650 litres of furnace oil, while Ansari was dispatched with another tanker carrying 12,080 kg of industrial oil.
Instead of proceeding to their designated delivery locations, the drivers allegedly diverted the tankers to Bhiwandi, where they siphoned off 150 litres and 180 litres of oil, respectively and sold it to Khan.
The total value of the stolen oil and the tankers involved in the alleged offence is estimated at Rs 50 lakh, the official said.
No arrests have been made in the case so far, and further investigation is underway.
Last month, a tanker carrying around 10,600 litres of allegedly stolen petrol was intercepted by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) distribution team in the Reti Bandar area of Mumbra in Thane.
According to FDA officials, the tanker was stopped on August 20 after the distribution team received information that a vehicle carrying illegally sourced petrol was passing through the area. During the inspection, officials asked the tanker driver to produce documents related to the petrol being transported. However, the driver failed to provide any documents.
FDA Distribution Team Officer Rohit Malkar, while speaking to the media, said, "We received information that a tanker carrying illegal petrol was passing through here. We stopped it at Reti Bandar and asked for documents regarding the petrol, but he could not provide any documents related to the petrol."
The official from Maharashtra FDA added, "We acted on an intel received that a tanker was allegedly carrying petrol. The petrol which has been confiscated by us is valued at around Rs 19,77,600."
The tanker, along with the petrol, was subsequently handed over to the Thane Police for further investigation.
(With PTI inputs)
