Imphal, March 16: The Manipur government is planning a crackdown on smuggling of petrol from neighbouring Myanmar.

The Ibobi Singh government has received reports that petrol smuggled in from Myanmar is being adulterated with kerosene released by the state food and civil supplies department.

The adulterated petrol is sold in the black market in the state, which has led to fears that there might be a shortage of kerosene soon.

Huge quantities of petrol are reportedly being smuggled in everyday through Manipur’s border trade hub of Moreh.

Petrol is one of several illegal items being smuggled into Manipur since border trade with Myanmar was opened in 1994.

Sources said petrol from the neighbouring country is much cheaper than that sold by Indian Oil Corporation.

With the price of petrol rising steadily in India, black marketers here are making a fast buck by selling the smuggled fuel after mixing it with kerosene. This is resulting in the leakage of huge quantities of kerosene.

Kerosene is mixed with the smuggled petrol to make it look like the Indian product, a source said.

Though there are several police and customs checkgates along the Imphal-Moreh route, officials there seldom seize the smuggled items.

State food and civil supplies minister P. Parijat admitted that he has received reports of black markets in the state where Myanmarese petrol, mixed with kerosene, is being sold.

He, however, claimed that so far no one has come forward to lodge a complaint about shortage of kerosene in the state.

“We have received reports that a huge quantity of kerosene is being siphoned off for adulteration of smuggled petrol from Myanmar. The mixture is being sold on the black market as genuine Indian fuel. Steps would be initiated soon to check this illegal trade,” Parijat, who is a senior CPI leader, told The Telegraph.

Parijat further said, “Detailed reports would be sought from the superintendents of police and deputy commissioners about the leakage of kerosene and the exact quantities of petrol being smuggled in from Myanmar. After the information is obtained, steps would be taken to check pilferage of kerosene as well as smuggling of petrol from Myanmar.”

The minister argued that the state police are so busy tackling law and order problems that they probably did not have enough time to pay attention to this problem.

He asked the people, particularly the consumers, to be more vigilant and play an important role in checking the illegal trade.