CUTTACK: That the Millennium City has established itself as a hub of petrol and diesel adulteration in the coastal districts has become clear with the district administration unearthing a massive racket with a full-fledged mixing unit at Gandarpur under Chauliaganj police limits here. The unit is estimated to have a capacity of delivering over 1,200 litres of mixed fuel in only two hours so as to enable deliveries to multiple tankers on a single night. Interestingly, the unit is believed to have been established on Government land while the administration officials are yet to identify the person behind the racket.Acting on complaints of rampant adulteration of fuel in the area, a team of Civil Supplies officials raided the suspected pockets and stumbled upon the unit running from an expansive pucca shed. The team found about 30 drums, motor pumps, decolourising powder to cleanse the kerosene of its blue colour before mixing it with petrol or diesel and chemicals that were used to rid the kerosene of its smell. Other implements and tools were also seized from the shed. “The unit was run in a very professional manner with the involvement of technically qualified persons. We could not lay hands on adulterated fuel as this is the off time”, said Civil Supplies (CS) Inspector Gyan Ranjan Mohanty.The racket operates in full flow from around the day 10 of every month till the last when the oil is lifted from the depots at Paradip and Jatni and transported by tankers to the dealers in the districts of Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur. Gandarpur lies strategically on the NH-5 and the vehicles are easily diverted to the adulteration units get drained and refilled with the kerosene mixed fuel and then resume their journey onwards to the dealers points. Even sealing apparatus to evade detection of tampering have also been found, Mohanty said. “We are probing deep to catch the culprits. The status of the land where the shed had been constructed is being verified. If it is Government land it will be demolished instantly, otherwise appropriate action would be taken against the landowner. The crackdown against the oil adulteration activities in the city would continue,” Sub-Collector JP Das said.
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