The once-flourishing oil theft racket in Assam has seemingly resumed once again, with Dibrugarh police foiling one such attempt on Sunday night.
As many as four persons were arrested in connection to the incident. The arrestees have been identified as Sanjeev Chetia, Sanju Hatimuria, Mukul Hazarika, and Bitupon Phukan.
Acting on intelligence inputs, a team of police led by Officer in-charge of Duliajan PS Bhaskar Saikia carried out an operation at Bhadoi village and recovered barrels of stolen condensate oil.
According to sources, the four of them had been involved in stealing condensate from Oil India Limited (OIL) for some time. A vehicle bearing registration number ‘AS01 AH 6966’ was also recovered from their possession.
A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused.
The police said that the operation to bust more oil theft rackets will continue, adding that more arrests are likely.
Recently, another such racket was busted in Tinsukia’s Digboi wherein the police seized an oil tanker truck used for the theft bearing registration number ‘AS-06-AC-1691’ at Makun Bypass Road.
The truck was en-route Digboi when it was intercepted and seized following a brief cat and mouse chase.
The driver of the truck, identified as Buddhi Das, was taken into custody for questioning.