Thieves stole petrol from Indian Oil pipeline

Thieves were stealing petrol from an underground Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) pipeline by digging a tunnel in southwest Delhi's Kakrola. However, a blast led cops to unearth their conspiracy for pilfering petrol. The cops arrested the kingpin of the racket, Zubair, a scrap dealer, who along with others had taken a plot on rent five months ago to use it as a "scrap yard" and to cover the tunnel.

On Tuesday night, residents of Suraj Vihar heard a loud blast that shook the buildings around. When a police team reached the site, they found 150-foot long and 2.5-foot wide tunnel dug inside the room. The tunnel was allegedly being used to pilfer oil by the tenants. The accused connected a rubber hose to the metal pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation and transferred petrol to a modified tanker with three specially designed barrels.

The accused had gained access to the pipeline and stolen around 3,000 litres of petrol. "Zubair told us that he had just finished drilling up a hole in the pipeline with the help of a gas cutter. They then covered the opening in the room with a lid and placed some bricks and a sofa on it. On Tuesday evening, they removed the sofa and moved out and soon after the blast took place," a police officer said.