The bus was fitted with the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, and the cops used the tracking mechanism to locate the vehicle near Jannenahalli, about 30km from Gubbi bus stand. But by then, the thieves had stolen the diesel and fled from the spot.
Incidents of fuel theft have increased in Karnataka following the spike in petrol and diesel prices. In one such case, a government bus in Tumakuru district was first stolen and then abandoned following the pilferage of diesel from its fuel tank.
A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus was stolen from Gubbi bus stand in the wee hours of Monday. Police sources said that the bus driver, Hanumantharaya, parked the vehicle (KA-06 F-0858) at around 9.40pm on Sunday and went to sleep at the KSRTC dormitory. When he returned to the Gubbi bus stand at 6am on Monday, the bus was missing from the depot. Hanumantharaya then filed a police complaint.
The bus was fitted with the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, and the cops used the tracking mechanism to locate the vehicle near Jannenahalli, about 30km from Gubbi bus stand. But by then, the thieves had stolen the diesel and fled from the spot.
A police officer said that theft of petrol and diesel has become rampant. “People in residential complexes request us to patrol their parking areas during the night. Earlier, fuel theft was mostly reported in Bengaluru and tier-two cities like Mysuru and Hubballi, but such cases are now also being reported from small towns,” he said. As on Wednesday, the price of a litre of petrol in Bengaluru was Rs 109.89 and the corresponding figure for diesel was Rs 100.75.
In August this year, Dakshina Kannada district police busted a gang that stole diesel from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL). It was found that the gang was stealing diesel by rigging a hole in the main pipeline. Six members of the gang were arrested.
City Police commissioner Kamal Pant was flooded with complaints of petrol and diesel theft from residential complexes during his recent public interaction. The deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) were directed to increase patrolling following the complaints.
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