Attempt to pilfer IOCL aviation fuel in Panipat
Chandigarh   02-Nov-2011

The IndianOil (IOCL) said an attempt was made to pilfer aviation fuel worth lakhs of rupees from an underground supply line at a village in Panipat.

Though the security staff of IOCL’s Panipat refinery plant and the police recovered a tanker containing about 4,000 liters of aviation fuel on Monday from Ganjbar village, the thieves escaped. The Mathura-Jalandhar oil supply owned by the IOCL was targeted.

Police sources said members of the IOCL’s pipeline security force spotted some suspicious persons in the fields through which the pipeline crosses.

Sensing trouble, the pilferers sped away with the tanker. But the axle of the tanker broke down and they fled leaving the vehicle behind.

The Panipat superintendent of police Pankaj Nain said on Tuesday that it was a rare case of pilferage of aviation fuel.

“Cases of attempts or pilferage of petrol and diesel are reported as they are in demand in the black market, but this case is unique as aviation fuel has restricted use. There is also a possibility that the thieves mistakenly punctured the aviation fuel pipeline,” he said.

Nain said the tanker was in police custody and investigation was on to identify the thieves.

No one has been arrested.

A senior police source said pilferage of oil supply lines was a high security risk issue for the state.

He said oil pilferers run a wellorganised racket mostly in Panipat and Baharugarh. The rackets were run by petrol pump owners with a team of welders, local farmers and employees associated with the project.