The Property Cell of the Mumbai Police on Monday arrested a gang for illegally tapping into the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limiteds (HPCL) pipeline. Five persons were arrested for running the pilferage operation on the HPCL pipeline running from the jetty near BARC in Trombay to Vadala. There is a pipeline which used to pump lubricant from the jetty to the centre. Ships come to the jetty and unload the lubricant which is then pumped to the centre at Vadala. The accused had tapped into the pipeline near the bridge at Mahul Road and stole a part of the lubricant, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy. The police received a tip-off about the gang. Our officials laid a trap and arrested the five men. They had a valve and proper mechanisms to steal the the lubricant. This theft had been going on for many weeks, said Roy. The accused have been identified as Yogesh Yadav (20),Shiva Gowda (28),Mohammed Iliyas Shaikh (20),Amin Islam (21) and Mohammed Abdul Mistri (23). A case has been registered at the Vadala police station and the accused have been booked under various sections of the Essential Commodities Act. Roy said the accused would make almost Rs 1 lakh every time they tapped into the pipeline. They have also seized a tempo from the accused. We are investigating the case to see if any employee of HPCL was involved. We have to investigate if this is a case of negligence on behalf of employees or a case of involvement. Our investigations are on, said Roy.
