SSP recommends vigilance inquiry into Rs 100 crore oil theft from Mathura refinery
After an oil theft to the tune of more than Rs 100 crore was recently discovered at the Mathura Refinery, Mathura SSP Mohit Gupta has reportedly written to Indian Oil Corporation Limited officials and the petroleum ministry recommending a vigilance inquiry.
In Short
- Several refinery officials' phones are reportedly being placed under surveillance
- A refinery official told India Today that the IOCL has initiated an inquiry.
- The Mathura Refinery's security was considered fool-proof.
After an oil theft to the tune of more than Rs 100 crore was recently discovered at the Mathura Refinery, Senior Superintendant of Police (Mathura) Mohit Gupta has reportedly written to Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) officials and the petroleum ministry recommending a vigilance inquiry.
The phones of several refinery officials are reportedly being placed under surveillance, and their call details are being sought.
Even employees engaged in the pumping security are being placed under surveillance.
INQUIRY INITIATED, SAYS REFINERY OFFICIAL
A refinery official told India Today on the condition of anonymity that the IOCL has initiated an inquiry into this incident on the orders of the ministry.
Prima facie, the names of several IOCL officials are coming up as suspects, the official said. The IOCL is also contemplating handing over the investigation to the CBI, he added.
The security of the Mathura Refinery, an establishment that's a part of the country's economic backbone, was considered fool-proof.
The refinery official said that while the theft of oil from the high-pressure pipeline used to be non-cognizable offense earlier, it was made a cognizable offense after an IAS official was burned to death by the oil mafia in Maharashtra.
Such a huge theft of oil from the refinery has revealed a huge breach in this strategically important refinery, the official said. That it occurred despite the presence of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the refinery indicates that there are high-level players involved, he added.
OIL SYNDICATE MASTERMIND
The mastermind of this oil syndicate is said to be an Agra-based kerosene oil dealer, Manoj Goyal, who is currently underground. The police is tracing the whereabouts of Goyal and his accomplices.
Goyal is said to have close relations with several administrative officials and had a network spread across dozens of Indian cities, where he allegedly supplied this stolen oil.
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