Gujarat ATS, Rajasthan Police Bust HPCL Crude Oil Theft Gang; 8 Held

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), in a joint operation with the Rajasthan Police, has busted an interstate gang allegedly involved in stealing crude oil from an HPCL pipeline in Rajasthan and selling it in Gujarat. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the case.

The operation began after ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police S.L. Chaudhary received information that a group from Gujarat and Rajasthan was planning to illegally puncture an HPCL crude oil pipeline in the barren land of Rajasthan’s Balotra district and transport the stolen oil to Gujarat for sale along the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway.

Acting on the information, an ATS team detained a suspect under Section 35(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, near Sokhada village on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway. During questioning, he allegedly told the police that the crude oil in his possession had been brought from Kaludi village in Balotra.

The ATS team then travelled to Rajasthan and arrested seven more alleged members of the gang from a dhaba near Tapra Jode. During questioning at Jasol Police Post, the accused reportedly revealed that they had punctured an HPCL pipeline and fitted a valve inside a 3-4 feet deep pit dug in barren land on the outskirts of Kaludi village.

HPCL officials were informed about the suspected tampering, following which the ATS and Rajasthan Police inspected the site. Officials reportedly found an illegally installed valve connected to the punctured pipeline inside the underground pit.

A case was subsequently registered at Jasol under Sections 303(2), 287 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the Petroleum and Mineral Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Amendment Act, 2011, and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

The case, registered under G.R. No. 0141/2026, has led to the arrest of all eight accused. Police are now investigating the alleged interstate network and trying to trace other people who may have been involved. DeshGujarat