DIBRUGARH: Tinsukia police on Saturday seized 1,700 litres of condensate oil stolen from Oil India Limited (OIL)’s crude oil transportation pipelines.
According to police, the condensate oil which was stolen by tampering with oil pipelines was recovered by a police team and OIL security personnel kept in gallons from inside the Lakhipathar reserve forest near Dimahula village in the Makum area.
“The oil theft gang however fled the spot before the police could nab them. A case has been registered at the Langkachi police outpost,” said police.
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“We have registered a case against unknown persons under section 379 of the IPC along with sections of the PDPP Act and the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Amendment Act. We have got valuable leads during the investigation and gang members will be nabbed soon,” a police official said.
Theft of crude oil has been a major issue for oil companies like Oil India Limited and the ONGC in Assam. Oil India Limited has even procured drones for surveillance of their pipelines and other wares. The surveillance is mainly done to curb pilferage of crude oil, condensate, theft of pipes, tampering with wellheads, and tapping of crude oil delivery pipelines.
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Recently, the Tinsukia police arrested 9 oil thieves from the district who use to steal crude oil by drilling holes in oil pipelines of Oil India Limited.
Sources said the oil thieves are active in upper Assam and most of the time they steal oil from the tankers.