Rs 36-cr oil leak' in Howrah

KOLKATA: If you see an oil tanker pullup near Naopala, close to Kolaghat, after 7.30 pm it may not always be for a teabreak or a stretching of the limbs. Around 80-100 barrels of petroleum products,worth at least Rs 10 lakh, are pilfered every evening at this very spot, saysources in police and oil companies.The racket that has gone fromlakhs to crores over the last three years is allegedly operated by an UttarPradesh-based don and has the connivance of a section of oil tanker drivers,police, and employees of agencies that place bulk orders. The annual pilferageamounts to a whopping Rs 36 crore by rough estimates.Incidentally,most of the pilfered products are from consignments booked by governmentagencies or private factories/contractors. Fuel station operators have managedto plug the problem by installing tamper-proof locks and seals on the vehiclesthat carry petrol and diesel.Naopala, where the racketeers siphon off oil, is at the edge of Howrah, just ahead of the Kolaghat bridge across Rupnarayan river. This area comes under Bagnan police station. The pilferage continues from 7.30 pm till the wee hours of the next day. One in every four tankers that crosses this stretch on National Highway 6 makes the unscheduled stop by the roadside. As much as 20,000 litres of petroleum products petrol, diesel, kerosene or bitumen bound for Kolkata from Indian Oil Corporation's refinery at Haldia is smuggled out.The UP resident, who is themastermind of the racket, owns houses in Kolaghat in East Midnapore and Domjurin Howrah. He drops by once in a while, but his henchmen oversee the day-to-dayoperations. Locals say the illegal business has doubled since it began in 2007.The gang has built two huge godowns in addition to the three they already had tostore the barrels of smuggled oil.Last week, TOI saw a tanker stopat the spot around 10.30pm. The driver and helper sauntered away to a tea stallat a distance while three youths, aged 20-23 years, arrived with drums and begandraining bitumen from the tanker. When the TOI team stepped forward,the two youths as well as the driver and helper fled."On an average,we pipe out 80-100 barrels of petroleum products from the tankers and store themin our godowns. The buyers arrive in the pre-dawn hours, when it is still dark,and cart them away. The ring leader comes from UP sometimes during the night. Heis not a frequent visitor," said one of those involved in the racket.Each barrel can store 200 litres of petroleum products. The gangbuys the pilfered products for Rs 6,000 a barrel against the market price ofover Rs 10,000 and sells it for Rs 8,000-9,000 a barrel. The difference of Rs2,000-3,000 a barrel is pocketed after paying the driver, staff and a section ofpolice, say sources.Locals have complained to police about theillegal trade several times but to no avail.Haldia Tanker Association secretary Joginder Roy said that around 300 tankers are dispatched from IOC's Haldia refinery each day. Petrol is loaded from IOC Gate No. 2, diesel and kerosene from the IBP terminal, and bitumen from the refinery terminal. Around 40% of the tankers head for outside the state. Of the 100 tankers that cross Kolaghat bridge, 25-30 are involved in pilfering, said sources. "We are aware that pilferage is happening but cannot takeaction as the drivers have the backing of unions. Whenever a driver isidentified and an attempt is made to book him, the union demands that he bepardoned because it is his first offence. With a section of police colluding inthe matter, there is no point," Roy said.When TOI asked Bagnaninspector-in-charge Subrata Kangsabanik about the pilferage, he said he wasunaware of the racket. SDPO Uluberia Meenal Majumdar admitted that a UP-basedgangster involved in the pilferage. "We conducted raids twice and thought thatthe smuggling had stopped after that. We will look into the matter."