Angul: Police have busted a 12 men inter-state gang involved in oil theft from the Indian Oil Corporation Limited's pipeline at Kanjara in the district, including kingpin Vineet Gupta, a mechanical engineer and native of Mathura.
The cops have also seized one oil tanker, three cars and Rs 4.5 lakh in cash from the accused along with 49,000 litres of oil. SP Brijesh Kumar Rai said that Gupta, who knew well the network and location of underground oil pipelines, hatched the plot with one Karan Sharma of Delhi.
"Along with their associates, the duo dug up tunnels, drilled pipelines, drew oil and transferred the fuel to tankers. The IOCL authorities in Sambalpur became suspicious after there was a drastic fall in the pressure in the oil pipelines and the matter was reported to us," he said.
Gupta's father is an employee of IOCL in Mathura and he was also involved in similar offence there.