The Dakshina Kannada district police on Friday, December 8, arrested 10 persons in connection with a racket involving siphoning of bitumen from tankers that move out of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) to different places in the State.
Police gave the names of the arrested persons as Vijay Kumar Shetty of Udupi, Sudhakar Shetty of Kadeshwalya villge in Bantwal taluk, tanker drivers Mohammed Imran, M. Ashraf, S.R. Veerendra, Madaswamy, Prabhakaran, M.G.Naveen Kumar, Mohammed Nissar, and Mohammed Siabhuddin.
Acting on a tip-off, the Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and and Narcotics (CEN) police kept a watch on the activities at an open place in Aamai in Kadeshwalya village where tankers filled with bitumen would stop for a while. The police found that a small portion of bitumen from loaded tankers was being taken out and filled into empty tankers.