Police today claimed to have busted a racket allegedly involved in pilferage of furnace oil meant for industrial units by arresting two persons from Kalwa.
The duo Abrar Ahmed Mohamad Isque Shaikh (25) and Atta-ur-Rehman Abdul Razak Pathan (35) are the driver and cleaner of the oil tanker carrying the oil from BPCL, Sewri, in Mumbai to a Coca Cola plant based at Kudus Wada in the district, police said.
They were arrested last night by a Crime Branch team on a tip-off.
Police found that 5000 KL out of 18000 KL of oil was syphoned off allegedly by the duo and transported to Taloja in Navi Mumbai in a small tanker.
Explaining the modus operandi, police said the duo would syphon off oil from their tanker by tampering with the seal and adulterate the residuary oil with oil and some chemical. Police suspect the pilfered oil will be sold in the open market.
The furnace oil is used by industries for heating up boiler and generation of steam.
A police team is dispatched to Taloja to trace other members of the racket.
Both Shaikh and Pathan were booked under relevant sections of IPC and produced in a local court, which remanded them in police custody till February 11.
