Mumbai police arrest oil smugglers, seize ship

The local police today claimed to have busted a racket involving the oil mafia after they arrested two persons and seized a ship, anchored off the Mumbai coast, and used as a floating petrol pump for smuggling diesel in the city.

The two accused, identified as Abdul Kadar, 35, and Akbar Pingar, 45, were arrested from Dongri area in south Mumbai recently and based on the information provided by them, a ship, Sagar Sevak, anchored eight nautical miles from the city coast and used as a floating petrol bunk, was raided and seized yesterday, said the officials of special detection squad formed by Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik.

The seized vessel belongs to one Raj, who is still absconding, police said adding that no oil was stored on the ship at the time of the raid.

Explaining their modus operandi of the oil mafia, police said the diesel is illegally pumped into the containers from other ships arriving at the Mumbai coast in connivance with their captains and are kept aboard Sagar Sevak.

In the night, the accused duo would go to the ship and shift the containers containing diesel to their boats and bring them to the shores, police said.

The duo would then sell the oil at a throwaway price in the open market, particularly to fishermen, they said.

Sagar Sevak has been given the permission by the Bombay Port Trust to be stationed near the Mumbai coast.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) had in the past used the vessel to store logistics for its men, however, for the last eight months no such activity was carried out by the ONGC on the ship, the officials said.

Last week, police had seized 50,000 litres of diesel and petrol, collectively worth Rs 25 lakh stored on a vessel anchored in the sea and arrested six smugglers.