New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Monday claimed to have busted a racket siphoning off aviation turbine fuel from tankers meant for the international airport here and selling those in the open market as mineral turpentine oil, causing monthly loss of over Rs 1.62 crore to the national exchequer.

The illegal operation — running for over three years — was uncovered following a tip-off received on Sunday, and led to the arrest of six people and detention of two others.

The racket is said to be causing a loss of over Rs 1.62 crore to the exchequer every month, with an estimated 5,000 litres of fuel being stolen daily.

“The ATF was originally dispatched from HPCL’s Asoda Depot in Bahadurgarh for delivery to IGI Airport. However, tanker drivers, in connivance with the transporter and godown owner, manipulated GPS tracking data and diverted the tankers to a concealed location in Mundka,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said.

The security locks on the tankers — meant to be opened only at the designated airport depot — were bypassed using duplicate master keys. Forged dip rods were then used to fake proper delivery readings, he added.

The siphoned fuel was transferred into barrels and sold as Mineral Turpentine Oil (MTO), commonly used in the ink and paint industry. “Three oil tankers carrying 24,000 litres of ATF each were seized from the spot along with siphoning pipes, drums, and cash,” the officer said.

The raid was conducted and in addition to the tankers, police also recovered two pickup trucks meant for transporting the stolen fuel, Rs 1.05 lakh in cash, six dip rods (including forged ones), siphoning equipment, nine empty drums, and three duplicate master keys.

The seized ATF and vehicles have been handed over to the concerned oil company for safe custody after due documentation.

The arrested people include Gaya Prasad Yadav (43), the godown owner and former tanker driver. He used to purchase fuel at Rs 30/litre and sell at Rs 50/litre.

Others include Rajkumar Chaudhary (53), regular purchaser of siphoned ATF which he sold at Rs 43 to Rs 50/litre, and Ashpal Singh Bhullar (53), owner of eight trucks including the three tankers seized.

Three truck drivers were also arrested — Ram Bharose Yadav (44), Anjay Roy (41), and Subodh Kumar Yadav (32) — who were paid Rs 1,500 per trip.

Two detainees include driver’s helpers Parveen Kumar Yadav (25) and Parveen Kumar Yadav (19) who were paid Rs 700 per trip.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Crime Branch police station. Further investigation is underway.