Rajasthan Police have cracked a sophisticated smuggling network accused of smuggling more than 50 million litres of crude oil inside water tankers from India's largest onshore oilfield. More than 30 trucks have been seized, so far.
The theft went undetected for nearly six years until the Rajasthan sleuths arrested 25 people this week for involvement in the smuggling.
Reportedly, Rs. 49 crore worth of oil could have been stolen in total from the oilfield run by a subsidiary of British mining giant Vedanta Resources. More than 75 people, many drivers and contractors working at the oilfield, are still wanted in connection with the heists, said district police chief Gangandeep Singla, reports AFP. "The company suspected something fishy was happening and complained to us, and during investigations we found this was an organised ring," he told AFP. He said the drivers were authorised to carry water -- a byproduct in oil exploration for dumping but some of the tankers were filled with crude instead. Interestingly, the drivers were disabling their GPS devices to avoid tracking and detection. The stolen oil was used in road construction and diesel production, police said. In February, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested nearly a dozen people accused of stealing nearly Rs. 100 crore worth of petroleum from a high pressure refinery pipeline in the northern state. OneIndia News (with agency inputs)