In a significant crackdown on fuel adulteration, Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force (STF) has dismantled an inter-state syndicate involved in selling contaminated petrol and diesel. The operation, conducted late on February 9 in Salempur village under Kurawali police station in Mainpuri district, led to the arrest of two key members and the seizure of thousands of liters of adulterated fuel.
The suspects, Radhe Shyam, a resident of Nitya Enclave on Jalesar Road in Firozabad, and Ankit Yadav from Salempur village in Mainpuri, were nabbed red-handed. STF teams recovered two mobile phones, a fake Aadhaar card, a State Bank debit card, two PAN cards, Rs 4,400 in cash, forged Letters of Intent (LOIs) from oil companies for setting up petrol pumps, and other incriminating documents from their possession.
At Avagadh Petrol Pump in Salempur, authorities seized 4,000 liters of adulterated petrol and 1,000 liters of tainted diesel. Another 3,000 liters of contaminated diesel was confiscated from the IBP petrol pump in Chandai Kurawali. The unauthorized IBP filling station in Salempur has been sealed shut.
Interrogations revealed Radhe Shyam’s elaborate scam. In 2018, he registered a fictitious company, Anchan Petroleum Private Limited, at a fake Delhi address, followed by Anchan Refinery Private Limited. Posing as a legitimate entity, he duped aspiring entrepreneurs across districts like Kannauj, Etawah, Firozabad, Auraiya, and Mainpuri, promising fake permits and LOIs to open petrol pumps in exchange for hefty sums. Over a dozen bogus pumps have been linked to his network.
Ankit Yadav confessed to running an unlicensed biodiesel pump since 2020, selling chemical-laced fuel sourced from suppliers in western UP and Haryana. This illicit trade not only robbed the government of massive revenue but also damaged countless vehicles in rural areas, leading to frequent breakdowns and safety hazards.
A case has been registered against the duo at Kurawali police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Essential Commodities Act. Local police are continuing the investigation, with STF vowing to uproot the entire syndicate. This bust underscores the growing menace of fuel adulteration and the authorities’ resolve to combat it.