Assam: Tinsukia police bust crude oil pilferage racket, nine arrested

DIBRUGARH: Tinsukia police have busted a big gang involved in the theft of crude oil and arrested nine people involved in the racket. The arrests were made on Saturday during a series of raids carried out in different areas of the district by police teams led by the officer-in-charge of Doomdooma police station.
All the arrested persons were listed as crude oil thieves by the police and they are said to have been involved in crude oil theft by pilfering oil pipelines of Oil India Limited for several years now. A case has been registered against them at the Doomdooma police station under section 379 IPC along with sections of the PDPP Act and the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Amendment Act.
Theft of crude oil has been a major headache for oil companies like Oil India Limited and the ONGC in Assam. Oil India Limited has even procured drones for surveillance of their pipelines and other wares. The surveillance is mainly to curb pilferage of crude oil, condensate, theft of pipes, tampering with wellheads and tapping of crude oil delivery pipelines.
Every day hundreds of oil tankers loaded with petrol and diesel from the IOC oil refinery, Digboi and Oil India Limited, Duliajan leave for various destinations of the northeast. The tankers on their way usually stop at the roadside dhabas (eateries) located along NH-37 between Dibrugarh and Sivasagar. Sources said the gang in connivance with some unscrupulous drivers and helpers steals a certain amount of petrol or diesel from the tankers and then refills it with some cheap solvent or kerosene.