7 held for stealing bitumen from refinery trucks

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 5

The police have arrested seven persons on the charge of stealing bitumen from tankers of Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Rama Mandi here.

In the first case, the police arrested three persons and seized 25 tonnes of bitumen worth Rs 9 lakh at Guthari village. Those arrested have been identified as Rakesh Kumar and Sham Lal of Haryana and Ravinder Singh of Uttar Pradesh.

In the second case, the police arrested four persons and seized 250 quintals of bitumen along with Rs 2.72 lakh in cash at Talwandi Sabo. The accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar of Karnal, Rajesh Kumar and Kamal of Rajasthan and Sukhwinder Singh of Haryana.

The police said on a tip-off that the pilferage of bitumen was going on from loaded tracks, which come out of the refinery for delivery, in connivance with truck drivers.

The police raided the place and arrested the accused red-handed.

Two cases have been registered under Sections 379, 411, 406 and 120-B of the IPC against the accused at Sangat and Talwandi Sabo police stations, respectively.

It is pertinent to mention that pilferage of oil from oil tankers of the refinery was also reported earlier.

Refinery chief manager (bitumen) Sarup Singh said he was unaware of this incident.