The Petroleum Ministry has suggested to State government to make random checks on petrol pumps across State to detect fuel theft using electronic chips.

It said an accused arrested in this connection has admitted that such chips were installed in as many as 86 petrol pumps in Odisha.

In a letter to Odisha Food and Civil Supplies Department and Odisha DGP, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has asked to submit a factual report as ‘no tampering’ of the dispensing units were earlier detected during raids conduct on various petrol pumps in Sambalpur in August this year.

The Ministry said electronic gadgets were used as part of a nation-wide racket run by petrol pump dealers that was busted by Crime Branch, Mumbai in June this year. It said so far 33 accused have been arrested after a case in this connection was registered at Manpada police station in Thane.

The Ministry letter said after one Dambarudhar Lalman Mohanto was arrested in September, he revealed to the investigating agency that on the request of petrol pump owners ‘tampered equipments’ were replaced with normal ones in nearly 90 places in Odisha after the scam on the use of electronic chips for fuel theft surfaced in Uttar Pradesh.

The raids were conducted at two petrol pumps in Sambalpur-Venkateshwar Filling and M/s Pawan Putra Service Station on August 24 and 25 by a joint enforcement team led by Crime Branch and local police and officials from controller of legal metrology, it said.

However, Food Supplies and consumer Welfare Minister Surjyanarayan Patro told reporters that raids were conducted at few petrol pumps in Western Odisha after getting inputs.

“Now with three  oil companies and the technical experts providing such equipment, we will conduct random checking of all the petrol pumps in Odisha,” he said.