MANGALORE: Special police teams formed by Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao have busted a major fuel adulteration racket and arrested 24 persons during raids conducted at several places under Panambur police sub-division limits late on Monday.

Police have seized bitumen, diesel and kerosene drums, solvents, lorries, cell phones and other equipment worth Rs. 49.22 lakh in this connection.

Mr. Rao told the Hindu here on Tuesday that officers carried out simultaneous raids on transport yards where people were suspected to be adulterating petroleum by-products, especially bitumen, kerosene and diesel. The products were then offloaded and adulterated at these yards.

Noting that all these products originated from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. plant at Kuthethur under Suratkal police station limits, Mr. Rao said crew involved in transporting these products managed to offload the products at these yards, mix them with solvents or other adulterants and proceed towards their destination. These were then sold to prospective buyers, he noted.

Thatan Rao, Sharanav Kumar, Siraj, Krishnamurthy, Krishnappa, Irfan, Pechu, Shashidhar, Purushottam, Ashok Poojary and Muthuswamy were arrested at raids on Kana yard. Sanjeeva, Jagadeesha, Aruna, Balakrishna, Prakash, Abdul Jafar, Kumar, Mohan Kumar, Shankar, Basavaraj, Pakeerappa, Satisha and Sanjeeva were caught in the raid at the yard in Kuthethur.

Suratkal police have registered separate cases. The accused were produced before First Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court on Tuesday and have been remanded in judicial custody.

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