Chemical theft racket busted in Vapi, 12 held

SURAT: The special operation group (SOG) of Valsad on Saturday arrested 12 persons including tanker drivers, cleaner and their local contacts in Vapi for allegedly running a chemical theft racket. Police recovered 597 barrels of chemicals, five tankers and a pump - all worth Rs 1.46 crore from Vapi GIDC area.
Following a tip-off, SOG raided Sky Line Polycats Pvt Ltd's plot in Vapi GIDC on Monday and seized the material.The stolen chemical was stored in plastic barrels. In all, 22 different types of chemicals were found in the barrels. Identification and punchnama of the seized material continued till late evening on Saturday after seizure.
Arrested accused, Kailash Patil (52) and Kishore alias Gupta Banarasi Prasad (50), both from Vapi, were operating the chemical theft racket. Their drivers Ramprakash Rajput from Ahmedabad, Kawaljeet Singh of Vadodara, Buddhivan Maratha of Basokalyan in Karnataka, Gurunam Singh of Vadodara, Krishnamohan Chauhan from Maharashtra, Nawaz Ali of Vapi and Shravan Yadav of Vapi. Cleaner and labourer Harishchandra alias Chhotu Prajapati as well as Sadhusaran alias Bablu Naik from Vapi, were also taken into custody.
Police investigation revealed that the tankers were carrying chemicals from Maharashtra to different locations through the National Highway 8. The tankers used to stop at the Vapi GIDC and the chemical was removed from it. The drivers used to inform their employers that the chemical was stolen by unidentified person but investigations revealed that tanker drivers and chemical thieves were all involved.
"The arrested accused will be questioned to find out about others involved in the racket. It is yet to be known who purchased the stolen chemicals," said R G Desai, police inspector, SOG, Valsad.