Following the death of Popat Shinde yesterday, main accused in the murder of Additional District Collector of Nashik, Yeshwant Sonawane who was burnt alive, a look at key players and the modus operandi of the oil mafia
Following the death of Popat Shinde yesterday, main accused in the murder of Additional District Collector of Nashik, Yeshwant Sonawane who was burnt alive, a look at key players and the modus operandi of the oil mafia
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There was not a single oil tanker on the Mumbai-Nashik highway last weekend as police turned on the heat following the gruesome killing of Additional Collector Yeshwant Sonawane by members of the oil mafia on Thursday.
Yeshwant Sonawane
The MiD DAY team ran a check on some of the suspected highway hideouts of clandestine diesel operators, but most of them went underground in the past three days. The tankers carrying pilfered oil also disappeared from the discharging centres that dot the national highway.
A senior police officer in Nashik told this reporter that the illegal diesel business estimated around Rs 10,000 crore annually could not take place without the connivance of several senior politicians. It is a secondary source of income for many mantris, which runs without too many risks.
"This business cannot be stopped because so much black money is involved. It will start again once things settle down. In fact, the local police are not even empowered to raid the oil mafia on their own.
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It has to be a joint operation with other agencies like the collector's officer, pollution control board, state excise etcetera. This gives them enough time to wipe off their tracks," said the officer, under condition of anonymity.
Gang power
Investigations by this newspaper revealed that that there are dozens of local gangs which provide the oil and diesel mafia with necessary muscle power. In return they receive protection and money from the local politicians.
The Tipper Gang is the most powerful gang in Nashik-Manmad region. There are others like Pappu, Mudliar and Mastan gang working hand in glove with Sonawane's killer Popat Shinde and his associates in the area.
Investigating officer Assistant Police Inspector (API) D Thompad told this newspaper that the case is being investigated from all possible angles so that the culprits are punished.
The Nexus
The clandestine diesel business originates in and around Mumbai. This brings a windfall to dozens of law enforcement agencies in and around the city besides politicians.
Large numbers of fishermen thrive on smuggled diesel from the ships in the harbour. The operation also brings in business to dozens of tugs and other tankers used for smuggling fuel on the high seas.
Senior police officials transferred at least five tainted officers to no-sensitive postings in a knee-jerk effort to stop the oil business.
Several hundred tonnes of smuggled diesel were sold to black marketeers in the past few months. The operation is pulled off on the high seas and the loss to the government exchequer could run into at least Rs 1,000 crore annually.
Sources pointed out earlier that special boats sailed around 100 miles to smuggle diesel. The smuggled diesel was supplied to scores of clandestine petrol pumps across the state.
By conservative estimates, about 30 percent of diesel is sold along Mumbai's harbour. Large quantities are sold to dubious petrol pumps across the city.
Big Business
Investigations indicate that transactions of more than 500 tonnes take place almost every alternate day. The volume of business is around Rs 180 crore for a two-month-season.
Dubious petrol pump owners and fishermen usually buy diesel at Rs 18 per litre. The operators get it as low as Rs 12 per litre.
1000 drums of black oil seized by the crime branch at Kurla Kalina road near Kalpana
The diesel-laden tugs and similar vessels head for lesser-known jetties across the state's shoreline. The consignment is transferred to motor tankers with fudged documents.
The vehicles fan out to dubious petrol pumps across the state. Large numbers of policemen en route to the final destination are on the payroll of the racketeers.
Some of the key players in the dock areas are Rafiq, Aziz, Aziz Battiwala, Chand, Munna Maldar, Santosh,Sadiq and now D K Bhai.
In other cases, diesel and petrol for automobile are adulterated with naphtha or kerosene to make quick money.
The oil syndicate does not even spare the furnace oil meant for the power plants spread across the state.
Huge quantities of oil are pilfered at godowns near Shivaji Nagar in Chembur. Large number of tankers filled with furnace oil head for illegal depots along the Ghodbunder Road in Thane.
Another fleet of trucks is seen along unauthorised depots in Taloja.
Modus operandi
The modus operandi is simple. Transporters interested in making quick money are hired to supply a fleet of tankers with drivers of very dubious backgrounds.
The tankers while leaving the government storage tanks near Wadala head for some of the go downs where the consignment is offloaded. Sometimes it is mixed with cheap substitutes.
In most cases, the stolen consignment is sold in the open market. Sometimes pilfered stocks are made to look like fresh consignments and sold to the power plants.
In almost all cases, the local police are covered by clandestine operators. The local mantris are also covered for their support, sources in the police informed.
Shady pumps
On the surface, everything seems normal. Not many motorists are aware that there areu00a0 secret petrol depots amidst forests and some sleepy hamlets, which supply adulterated products to syndicates running some shady petrol pumps in the region.
More than two dozen illicit depots have been raided and 77 persons were arrested as part of the crackdown on the oil mafia for the past few years. Many are booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Some of the kingpins have been identified as Laxman Surve alias Dattu. Another key operator is Mulla, who runs his network along the Mumbai-Pune route and is on police lists.
Spot where Additional District Collector of Nashik, Yeshwant Sonawane was burnt alive
Intelligence sources pointed out that petroleum products offloaded at Kandla Port in Gujarat found its way to petrol pumps in Manmad, Kolhapur, Pimpri, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Mumbai.
The fuel sold as petrol was found to be mixed with kerosene and naphtha. The petrol mafia also used closed industrial units in Lote-Parshuram near Chiplun in Ratnagiri district to mix adulterated petroleum products.
Quick buck
Explaining the modus operadi, a senior police officer said that petrol is mixed with naphtha, kerosene, methanol and other cheap substitutes to make quick money. Tankers laden with kerosene from ports in Gujarat find their way to secret depots in the Konkan.
The chemicals are mixed before they are dumped at some shady petrol pumps, often with the connivance of the pump owners. The role of an inter-state gang is not ruled out. The petrol mafia becomes very active during the festival season.
Particularly, when the traffic movement on the national highways is very high. On an average, a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) guzzles around 150 litre of petrol or diesel on a 1,500 kilometer drive from Mumbai to Goa and back.
"One can imagine the volume of business," ended a police officer who did not wish to be named. With Sonwane's gruesome murder and Shinde's death, skeletons are rattling louder than ever in closets.
Yet, looking at the connivance, the convenient blind eye and the sheer scale of corruption tremendous will and a zero-tolerance approach is needed to stamp out this malaise.u00a0u00a0
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