Mathura: A major theft of petroleum has been detected on the Mathura-Jalandhar Pipeline where oil mafia had virtually installed a parallel filling station by constructing a big tunnel for operation.
The breach on the pipeline was detected after about three months in R K Puram colony under Highway police station.
"Though the theft was suspected in the month of November, 2016, as drop in pressure of fuel in the pipeline was observed by 'leak detection system' however it could not be found in spite of repeated surface monitoring as theft was not massive," said Virendra Kumar, pipeline manager, Telecom and Instrumentation.
"It came to surface when more drop in pressure was detected recently," he said adding that theft this time has been committed in a planned way where all the three systems - survey, activation and operation appear to have been adopted," he said.
SP City Ashok Kumar when contacted said the act isdaring, planned and a challenge for police however, police is committed to nab the real culprits.
He disclosed that prima facie hunt is on for two persons whose names have come up.
According to the FIR filed on Sayurday, the tunnel (15 feet deep and about 100 meters long) on the outskirts of R K Puram colony was found when concentrated surface monitoring was conducted following a report of massive leakage through leak detection system.
A tanker was being filled from the pipeline when police and refinery officials reached the spot but not before the oil mafia gang managed to escape.
A valve for taking out the fuel was attached to the pipeline and the tunnel was fully electrified with provision for fresh air through pipes, the police report stated. Police disclosed that JCB machine was used for unearthing the tunnel and the entire system.
"The culprits this time would not go scot-free," Police Circle Officer Anupam Singh said when asked about the case since so far over half dozen incidents of fuel theft on the pipeline have taken place but none have been solved.
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