Massive inter-state racket involved in adulteration of petrol unearthed in Meerut

MEERUT: Uttar Pradesh police have unearthed a massive inter-state racket which used to supply chemicals used in adulteration of petrol to several states with the confiscation of over 2 lakh litres of such substance stored in underground tankers in Meerut .


Nine persons, including two kingpins of the racket, were arrested in the late Tuesday night swoop on a godown in city’s Partapur industrial area.

One of the accused is still on the run, a police officer said.

According to sources, the chemical -- a mixture containing thinner and some other substance -- was found stocked in underground tankers. Before its supply, it was mixed with an agent used to give colour to ‘jalebis’ to make it look like petrol.

IG Meerut range Alok Singh, under whose supervision crime branch and local police conducted the raid, said, “Initial interrogation of the accused has revealed that one-fourth of the fake fuel was mixed with three-fourth of genuine fuel. So far, it has come to light that the racket was supplying the fake fuel to two states, Punjab and Haryana , apart from UP. Several petrol pumps were selling this fuel.”

“The illegal activity was going on for over a decade now. Two firms, Ganpati Petrochem and Paras Chemicals, were involved in it. In all, ten persons have been booked including Rajeev Jain, the owner of Paras Chemicals and Pradeep Gupta who owns Ganpati Petrochem. Among those arrested, two are from Ghaziabad while the rest are from Meerut. A tanker was also seized in the raid,” the IG said.

Meanwhile, SP (rural) Avinash Pandey said, “Police teams have been dispatched to Haryana and Punjab. Besides, on the basis of information provided by those arrested, three Meerut-based petrol pumps were raided by district supply office (DSO) authorities. If any discrepancy is found, the pump stations will be sealed.”

The accused have been booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating), and relevant sections of Essential Commodity Act.