LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Crime Branch has busted an organised racket involved in the theft, adulteration and illegal sale of petrol and diesel, arresting four persons and seizing more than 16,000 litres of petroleum products and solvent in what police have codenamed “Operation Ethanol Shield.“The operation was launched after the Lucknow Police began probing reports linking vehicle breakdowns to ethanol-blended petrol.Officials said preliminary assessment suggested that many such complaints could instead be the result of criminal activities such as fuel theft, adulteration and black marketing rather than ethanol blending itself.Crime Branch launched a special drive to identify organised networks engaged in fuel pilferage, illegal storage, adulteration and black marketing across the city.Based on credible intelligence, a Crime Branch team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Kiran Yadav conducted a raid near the Sanyasi Bagh flyover in Malihabad on Sunday.During the operation, police intercepted a fuel tanker (UP-32-XN-3609) and another vehicle (UP-32-KB-5799) under suspicious circumstances.“The tanker had loaded petrol and diesel from the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) terminal at Amausi and was destined for a filling station on Vidhan Sabha Marg. However, instead of proceeding directly to the outlet, the tanker allegedly stopped en route, where fuel was siphoned off for illegal sale,” said ADCP, Kiran Yadav.Suspecting large-scale adulteration, police immediately called officials from the Excise Department, who jointly inspected the petroleum products.The inspection allegedly confirmed illegal storage and adulteration, leading to a joint enforcement action, the officer said.ADCP Kiran Yadav added that during the raid, police seized 7,750 litres of petrol, 4,000 litres of diesel, nearly 1,150 litres of adulterated petrol stored in 23 plastic cans, about 3,200 litres of solvent stored in 64 plastic cans, besides plastic pipes, funnels, a master key, dip rods, measuring equipment and other tools allegedly used to siphon and adulterate fuel.Police also found that nearly 250 litres of petrol had already been removed from the tanker’s chambers, indicating that the siphoning operation was in progress when the raid was conducted.ADCP Kiran added that during interrogation, tanker driver Ramtirth, a resident of Hardoi district, allegedly confessed that he used to divert fuel while transporting consignments from the HPCL depot and sell it to Anil Kumar for around ₹75 per litre.Police said Anil Kumar admitted that he had been purchasing petrol and diesel from tanker drivers in collusion with them before mixing the fuel with solvent and selling the adulterated product to local customers at higher prices to earn illegal profits.He allegedly carried out the operation with the help of Abhishek Rajput and Dheeraj Singh.The four arrested accused have been identified as Anil Kumar (36) of Malihabad, Abhishek Rajput (25) of Kakori, Dheeraj Singh (33) of Unnao, and Ramtirth (35) of Hardoi.Police said further interrogation is underway to identify other tanker drivers, buyers and members of the network involved in the illegal fuel trade.Investigators are also examining whether the racket had wider links with organised fuel theft and black marketing operating in and around Lucknow.
