Tinsukia police bust oil adulteration racket & arrest 4, one on the run

DIBRUGARH: Blowing the lid off a thriving adulterated oil racket in upper Assam, Tinsukia Police on Saturday arrested four persons and seized 14,000 litres of stolen condensate oil from Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts.
Tinsukia DSP Hiranya Kumar Borah, who led the operation, said based on information from Oil India Limited (OIL) security team, a raid was conducted in Tinsukia town which led to the recovery of 6,000 litres of stolen condensate oil from two vehicles, a dump truck and a winger passenger vehicle. The oil, which was pilfered from pipelines, were kept in containers of 200 litres each.
“We arrested the drivers of the two vehicles who told us that the stolen oil was supposed to be taken to RD Dhaba which is located beside NH-37 in the Chabua area of Dibrugarh district. We also came to know that the adulteration of oil was being carried out from a barricaded godown located behind the dhaba,” the DSP said.
He added, “The gang, in connivance with the tanker drivers, used to take out certain amount of oil (diesel or petrol) from the tankers and replace it with cheap condensate oil. The tankers transport oil from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plant in Digboi to various locations of the northeast. We raided the dhaba and the godown and seized 8,000 litres of oil which were stolen from oil tankers.”
The DSP further said, “We also found chemicals like nitric acid and some powdered substances, which were used for adulterating oil. The owner of the dhaba, Rubul Dhuliya, who is the kingpin of the racket, is absconding. However, we have arrested two of the gang members.”
Sources said the illegal oil theft and adulteration racket has been flourishing in the oil-rich districts of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh since last few years. The dhabas or roadside eateries along the NH-37, particularly in the 77-km stretch from Chabua (Dibrugarh district) to Sepon (Sivasagar district), are said to be the flashpoint of the illegal trade involving lakhs of rupees.