UP fuel scam: Two arrested and cheat chips recovered, in Maharashtra

The Uttar Pradesh police busted a Rs 200 crore petrol pump scam in Lucknow late last month.

In the latest development related to the fuel scam that was unearthed last month in Lucknow, UP, two more people have been arrested in Maharashtra. Along with the arrests, chips and remote devices which are used in the scam have also been recovered from them.

The Uttar Pradesh police busted a Rs 200 crore petrol pump scam in April this year. In the scam, it was found that petrol pump owners had attached a chip to the pump which dispenses less fuel. As a result of this technique, it was found that petrol pump owners earned Rs 200 crore a month.

And the latest bust in the scam seems to indicate that such schemes might be used in more states. According to reports, the police has recovered a large number of cheat chips, electronic parts of petrol dispensing units, 189 receivers, a laptop and 50 cells of remote devices.

These were recovered during raids conducted by the Special Task Force in the districts of Thane and Pune in Maharashtra, in connection with the scam. As per reports, these were carried out on Sunday, and the names of those who have been arrested are Vivek Harish Chandra Shetye from Thane and Avinash Manohar Naik from Pune.

Shetya is alleged to be involved in the manufacturing of such cheat chips and the installation of software which are used in the petrol dispensing units in order to create a difference between the display of units that are dispersed as compared to the real volume which is less than the display. Whereas Naik is reported to have assembled the remote control devices and delivered them to petrol pump owners in Lucknow.

The raids conducted in Lucknow last month were following the arrest of Rajendra, an electric technician, who had confessed that he had installed such chips at hundreds of petrol pumps across Uttar Pradesh. These had also led to the arrest of 22 more individuals which included four petrol pump owners.

This had also led to seizure of 15 electronic chips and 29 remote devices from various petrol pumps, and officials had also sealed seven petrol pumps as well as recommended the cancellation of their licences. As per reports, nearly 80 per cent of petrol pumps around Uttar Pradesh were using such devices to dispense less fuel.

OneIndia News