Man running inter-state oil theft racket held by Gujarat ATS

This picture has been used for representational purpose

The alleged kingpin of a multi-crore inter-state oil pilferage racket was arrested on Friday by the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad when he landed at Mumbai airport from Dubai, an official said.

Sandeep Gupta was wanted in several states for theft of oil worth Rs 300 crore by puncturing 14 pipelines, he said.

"He was held when he landed in Mumbai airport from Dubai. He has several members in his gang to whom he used to give instructions sitting in Delhi. He was involved in puncturing oil pipelines of ONGC and other companies," said Gujarat Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia.

He has been arrested earlier in Rajasthan, Haryana and Kolkata for oil theft, and also has cases against his name in states like Bihar, an ATS release said.

Gujarat police zeroed in on Gupta while probing a pipeline puncture-oil theft case in Morbi last July, it said, adding that he has also confessed to stealing oil from a pipeline in Vadal Patiya in Kheda.

After drilling a hole in the pipeline, Gupta and his men would erect a factory-like shed some 300-400 metres away and then extend a pipe till the shed and transfer oil into trucks, the release said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever