Pune Crime Branch Busts Fuel racket By Disguising Themselves As Villagers In Loni Kalbhor

Pune, 9th July 2022: On Thursday, a team from the crime branch’s social security unit carried out a surprise operation and broke a fuel theft racket in the Loni Kalbhor region while posing as local villagers and a female police officer in a burqa.

A Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) tanker carrying 15,000 litres of fuel was seized, and five individuals were arrested.

Balaji Bajbalkar (41), Dattatray Bajbalkar (42), Uttam Gaikwad (31), Ajinkya Shirsat (26), and Sahil Tupe (35) have been arrested. According to the police, the landowner, Maruti Kunjir, some BPCL officers, Roshan and Rahul Kunjir, the owners of the transport company, and Roshan and Rahul Kunjir fled from the scene.

The gang’s method of operation was to steal gasoline and diesel from company tankers and resell it in Loni Kalbhor on the black market.

The accused has allegedly been running the ring for a very long time, according to the crime branch.

The crime branch claims that the BPCL uses cutting-edge equipment to fill and measure gasoline and fuel in their tankers. Surprisingly, employees at the firm depot are involved in the scheme and would add an additional six to seven 15-litre buckets to each tanker. When the tanker left the depot to carry the fuel to the gas station, it halted at the prearranged location and the accused would remove the fuel without even touching the sealed lock.

Police inspector Rajesh Puranik, attached to the social security cell, said, “When we learned about the location, we realised that it was in a remote place and that there would be a risk while carrying out the operation. As a result, one lady police wore a burqa, and the rest of us dressed as local farmers and vegetable dealers. The suspects were taking gasoline out of the tanks when we conducted our search of the area.”

Crime Branch DCP Shrinivas Ghadge said, “The accused include BPCL officers, staff members, and managers of the Pune branch of the Vendor Lock System (VTS). A BPCL tanker, money, cell phones, and two motorcycles have also been confiscated from the scene.”

The accused persons have been charged with violating the relevant provisions of the Essential Commodities Act as well as sections 379 (punishment for theft), 407 (criminal breach of trust by carrier, etc.), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.