Seven days on, Police yet to make arrest in Khatkhati oil tanker inferno

Seven days on, Police yet to make arrest in Khatkhati oil tanker inferno

A Correspondent

Bokajan: Mystery shrouds the fuel tanker inferno at Khatkhati which burnt two fuel tankers and a grocery shop to ashes seven days back in a parking lot at Khatkhati along the Assam-Nagaland border in East Karbi Anglong.

What was immediately evident at the burn site was the fact that some unscrupulous elements attempted to siphon off fuel from the tankers parked there with the help of a water pump which short circuited and sparked the fire. Residents claimed it to be the handiwork of a fuel adulteration racket involved in pilfering fuel from tankers in a regular basis. The network is believed to involve powerful individuals capable of compromising law enforcement agencies to keep their illegal empire running.

The entire racket starts with drivers swiping a few hundred litres of fuel (petrol/diesel) off their tankers and then mixing a range of cheaper neutralized kerosene or solvent diverted from the petrol chemical industries to cover pilferage.

Police recovered three water pumps, several suction pipes, drums and barrels from a makeshift hut, a few yards away from the burn site. However, police have allegedly deliberately failed to make arrests in this highly organized racket.

Speculation is rife over a possible police-criminal nexus as this illegal operation cannot be carried out without greasing the palms of corrupt police officials. Such an illegal practice has led to such fire accidents several times in the past. A similar incident occurred in another parking lot here in which a tanker and a Tata Ace pick-up truck was burnt to ashes back in March, 2018. MLA Dr Numal Momin had instituted a magistrate inquiry into the matter which too failed to yield results as this illicit racket generates crores of black money and involves those at the highest level.

An inter-State gang of seven members (three local residents and four from neighbouring Dimapur) are reportedly involved in this organized fuel pilfering racket. Residents urged the Khatkhati Police to coordinate with their counterparts in Dimapur and ensure that these notorious fuel cartels who are part of this illegal racket be brought to book.

A suspected diversion of PDS kerosene and a particular solvent from petrol chemical plants incites adulteration here. Highly placed sources revealed that an organized racket of fuel pump owners, PDS kerosene dealers and transporters have collude to exploit the loopholes in the public distribution system and manipulate figures to divert the subsidized fuel to adulteration units doting the NH-39 along the Assam-Nagaland border.

Also Read: Assam News

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