Balasore: Frequent incidents of theft of crude oil from pipelines by crime syndicates has emerged as a headache for various oil companies and police.

Oil smugglers are targeting the pipeline that carries crude oil from Paradip to Haldia and further to Barauni.

On Monday, a patrolling team of Indian Oil Corporation Limited traced a point near Haldipada, from where unknown persons were stealing crude oil.

Indian Oil assistant manager Aditya Kumar Sahu has lodged a complaint with Basta police in this regard. Basta police station inspector-in-charge Dhaneswar Sahu said: "A case has been registered. The company suspects that oil might have been stolen from the point. We are probing the case."

Oil stealing has been a nagging problem for long. On December 14, oil stealing came to limelight after an oil tanker carrying about 20,000 litres of crude oil overturned on the NH-60 near Rupsa.

During the joint investigation by the police and the oil company personnel, it was found that the criminals had stolen oil by drilling the pipeline. Some of the tools used in drilling were found near the spot.

On May 18 last year, Rupsa police busted an inter-state racket and arrested nine persons, including two local people.

Crude oil is not sold in the open market. However, it is used as a fuel in furnaces and boilers in some factories. The oil thieves sell them to various factories.

"The oil pipelines are laid about 2 metres deep under the earth. Still, the thieves managed to steal oil by drilling and siphoning into the lorry. Not only are they causing loss to the company, but also they are posing threat to public life and property. During drilling and welding process, the explosive may catch fire and cause a huge explosion," said Balasore-based engineer Saurav Satish.

"We have one guard for 8-km-long oil pipeline. Patrolling has been beefed up in view of frequent incidents of theft," he said.

On April 9 2017, Rupsa police seized a partly-burnt tanker. The police suspected that the goons had deliberately set the lorry on fire as it could not move after one of its tyres stuck in mud in the paddy field. On April 21, a tanker ferrying crude oil was seized by the police.