Amid ongoing petrol shortages and long queues at petrol pumps, a driver of an oil tanker was allegedly caught siphoning off around 1,473 litres of petrol before unloading at a petrol pump in Chingmeirong, Imphal East in Manipur on Wednesday morning.
Staff of United Brothers petrol pump reported that discrepancies in the petrol quantity were discovered during a routine check of the tanker’s compartments before unloading. According to the staff, the first compartment showed a petrol level down by 30 centimeters, equating to approximately 860 litres missing. Similarly, the second compartment had a 21.5 centimeter shortage, accounting for around 613 litres of missing petrol.
The driver, identified as Chongtham Sankar, was supposed to deliver the petrol on Tuesday after being verified from the government oil depot, but discrepancies were noticed when the delivery was finally made on Wednesday.
The tanker, bearing registration number MN01-8418, was subsequently detained, and the driver was handed over to the police.
When confronted by the media, the driver failed to provide a specific explanation for the missing petrol.
He, however, revealed that before arriving at the United Brothers petrol pump, he had delivered 4,000 litres and 8,000 litres of petrol to two other pumps in Imphal.
Suraj Thokchom, the owner of United Brothers, expressed concern that the missing petrol would end up on the black market.
He emphasised that incidents like this are a clear indication of how black market petrol supplies are being generated, calling on authorities concerned to take strict action to prevent such occurrences.
In a surprising fact made known to the media by retail outlets, the compartments of tankers cannot be opened without an OPT (One-Time Password) which is supposed to be sent to the receiving petrol pumps, raising further questions about the security of the delivery process.
