pune

Updated: Jun 27, 2017 17:21 IST

Police raided a petrol pump belonging to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a close associate of Union minister for transport and shipping Nitin Gadkari in Maharashtra’s Nagpur and sealed two vending machines with microchips that rigged the dispensing units to charge more for less fuel.

According to the city police, the action was initiated against Rabjyot Automobiles petrol pump at Mankapur area in west Nagpur owned by Navneet Singh Tuli on Monday evening. Tuli is the vice-president of Nagpur City BJP and former corporator of Nagpur Municipal Corporation.

They said the raid was conducted by the officials of Thane Police crime branch after the arrest of a gang that was selling these microchips to petrol pumps. Thane Police busted a major racket last month and arrested two people, who imported these microchips for manipulating fuel dispensers from China and Taiwan and sold them in several parts in the country.

Vivek Shetye and Avinash Naik, who were involved in the racket for a decade, helped unscrupulous petrol pump owners cheat customers by dispensing lower quantities of fuel than ordered.

The police found these microchips installed on two vending machines at Tuli’s petrol pump and sealed them.

By inserting the microchips in the vending machines, the petrol pump owner was selling lesser fuel than what the customer paid for. For example, if a customer asked for five litres of fuel, they actually got half a litre less even though the machine showed the quantity asked for.

Thane deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Abhishek Trimukhe said the petrol owner has been booked for cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust.

A few years ago, Tuli’s close relative was also booked by the city police for adulteration of petrol and diesel at his fuel pumps.

The news about the raids on Tuli’s petrol pump created panic among other petrol pump owners in the city. Sources said the gang was operating all over Vidarbha and sold the chips to hundreds of petrol pumps across the region.

However, the percentage of fuel theft was much higher in Nagpur as compared to other cities in Maharashtra.