May 12: An alleged key operative in a fuel theft racket who had been on the run for eight months was arrested in Howrah early today.

A CID team picked up Sangam Jaiswal, a resident of Behala, from a house in Howrah's Belgachhia.

Police said Jaiswal, in his 40s, was a key operative in a racket that pilfers fuel from tankers along a stretch of over 100km, from Howrah to Haldia in East Midnapore district.

"We last night came to know about the Belgachhia house where he was holed up. We raided the house in the early hours and arrested him," a CID officer said.

"Sangam's associates are active along NH6, from Howrah to Kolaghat, and NH41, from Kolaghat to Haldia. The gang would take out fuel from tankers in connivance with the drivers and replace it with kerosene."

Jaiswal was also allegedly involved in an illegal business of supplying katatel or adulterated fuel to various gangs.

Katatel - a toxic mix of petrol, kerosene and naphtha - has a high pollution index and is much in demand among operators of autos and indigenous vans in rural areas.

Jaiswal's arrest followed a probe the police started following a complaint lodged by a petrol dealer in Nandakumar, East Midnapore, in September. The dealer approached the police after he found that the fuel supplied to him was mixed with kerosene.

Two men - Sanjay Prasad and Tushar Kanti Jana - were arrested on September 23.

After interrogating them, the police raided the premises of a closed hotel in Nandakumar and seized two tankers and a mini-truck containing around 27,000 litres of adulterated fuel.