Police raid house in Mannagundi of Kaukradi village in Kadaba taluk

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada police arrested six persons allegedly involved in siphoning off furnace oil from tankers moving on the Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway 75.

The police gave the names of the accused as Raghunathan, Muttu Pandi, G. Das, Singaraj, S. Keerthi and Selvaraj.

On a tip-off, a team led by Puttur Assistant Superintendent of Police Gana P. Kumar raided a house in Mannagundi of Kaukradi village in Kadaba taluk on June 29. The place is a few metres off the National Highway and was used to store the stolen furnace oil.

The police seized 10,500 litres of furnace oil stored in two underground tanks in the backyard of the house. They also seized two tankers loaded with furnace oil, two pumps and other equipment. The total value of the seized material was ₹35.21 lakh.

The police said the accused gave some money to drivers to allow them to unload furnace oil ranging from 50 to 200 litres from each oil tanker. The oil was stored in the two underground tanks. This oil was being illegally transported to Chennai in Tamil Nadu and other places, the police said.

Raghunathan and Muttu Pandi ran the operation with the help of the other accused. A case was booked against the accused in Uppinangady Police Station for offences under Sections 379, 417, 320 and 287 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 23 of the Petroleum Act.

Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Sonawane said investigation is on to find other persons allegedly associated with the accused.