A gang of six, of whom three are policemen, have been arrested by the Pune City police for allegedly puncturing the Mumbai-Solapur fuel pipeline of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in Lohegaon
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A gang of six, of whom three are policemen, have been arrested by the Pune City police for allegedly puncturing the Mumbai-Solapur fuel pipeline of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in Lohegaon, and siphoning off 5,000 litres of diesel.
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Assistant Police inspector (API) Ravindra Bhide, sub-inspector (PSI) Suhas Thombare, constable Avinash Shiv Sharan, Ismail Shaikh, Dinesh Pawar and Motiram Pawar were arrested on Monday night. The case was investigated by the Pune City police crime branch’s Anti Dacoity Cell.
In this regard, a complaint was registered by HPCL officer Rajesh Waghmare. He approached the Airport police station which falls under the jurisdiction of Pune City police on May 15 and registered a case against unidentified persons in the theft. Based on it, a criminal complaint was filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Waghmare said, "During HPCL’s internal investigation, it was noticed that there was a short fall of 5,000 litres of diesel, estimated to cost R3 lakh. A team started investigating if there was a leakage or whether someone was stealing it.
Later, during their probe, it was found that someone had tampered with the line and had siphoned off the diesel. The incident had taken place between May 11 and May 12 at Talera farm in the Santnagar area of Lohegaon. The thieves had broken the pipeline and installed a valve through which they had stolen about 5,000 litres of diesel."
Inspector (Crime) Vilas Sonde of Airport police station said, "The case was being probed as a similar incident had taken place in Dehuroad and Loni Kalbhor areas in the past. Shaikh is the kingpin of the gang and he had found the underground pipeline, measuring 2.5ft in diameter, that starts in Mumbai and ends in Solapur. It is a high-security pipeline, which transports petrol, diesel and kerosene, and is equipped with sensors at every kilometre. The spot from where they were siphoning off the fuel was in a dense and isolated spot."
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