UP fuel scam: Two arrested in Maharashtra, chips and remote devices recovered

Mangalore Today News Network

Lucknow, May 23, 2017: The Special Task Force carried out raids in Thane and Pune districts in the western state of Maharashtra in connection with the multi-crore petrol pump scam in UP and arrested two people.

The raids were carried out late on Sunday. Those arrested have been identified as Vivek Harish Chandra Shetye of Thane and Avinash Manohar Naik of Pune.

The police recovered a large number of finished and semi -finished cheat chips, electronic parts of petrol dispensing units, 177 remote control devices, 189 receivers, a laptop and 50 cells of remote devices.

Shetye was involved in manufacturing of the cheat chips (which are installed in the petrol dispensing units) and installation of software.

Naik assembled the remote control devices and supplied them to petrol pump owners in Lucknow who were using cheat chips to dispense lower quantities of fuel to consumers than what they paid for.

The STF unearthed the petrol pump scam in Lucknow on April 28 by carrying out raids at petrol pumps. After that, several raids have been conducted till date on various petrol pumps in the state capital.

The raids revealed that the petrol pump owners were using a hi-tech chip-based device to dispense lower quantities of petrol to consumers than what they paid for.

The police action was a sequel to the arrest of an electric technician Rajendra,– who confessed to installing the cheat chip at hundreds of petrol pumps across Uttar Pradesh and beyond.

The raids also led to the arrest of 22 others, including four petrol pumps owners, after seven separate FIRs were registered. At least 15 electronic chips and 29 remote devices were seized from filling stations. The officials sealed seven petrol pumps and cancellation of their licenses was recommended.

Probe has revealed that around 80% of the petrol pumps across the state were using the cheat chip to dispense less fuel.

Courtesy: Hindustantimes