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Army fuel on sale
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Poonch, January 18
The Army authorities may get furious over this allegation, but there is much truth in it that illegal sale of fuel, both petrol and diesel meant for running Army vehicles, is going on openly in this frontier town and its adjoining townships.

Sources confirmed that some Army men were selling the fuel and this illegal sale was going on in Surankote, Draba, Mendhar and Bhimber Gali area in this frontier district. They added that illegal sale was being done through some selective shopkeepers who were trusted by the Army men indulging in this illegal practice. They said even the private vehicle owners did not hesitate in buying Army fuel, which cost them much lesser than the market rates.

“Whereas the market rate of a litre of petrol is about between Rs 46 to Rs 47, the petrol for the purpose of Army vehicles is being sold to the selected shopkeepers at Rs 38-40, who then sell it to the private vehicle owners at around Rs 42. Similarly, diesel is being sold to these shopkeepers at Rs 25 as compared to the market rate of Rs 33. These shopkeepers then sell the diesel at around Rs 28,” a source said.

“The modus operandi is that some Army men, mostly drivers, come along with 20-50 litre canes filled with fuel and deliver these to some selected shopkeepers, who are associated with illegal sale of fuel.

“Since we are earning good money out of the sale of the Army fuel, the source of fuel hardly matters," said a shopkeeper in the Bhimber Gali area, located close to Bhimber Gali Brigade Headquarter.

The police sources said the police on many occasions had recovered Army fuel from private shopkeepers. “On May 25, 2007, the police seized 150 litre of Army diesel from a shop in the Ghambir Brahamana area along Jammu-Poonch National Highway. The shop owner had managed to get the diesel from the Army and was selling it in open market,” the police sources said.

Earlier, on March 26 in the same year, the police recovered 300 litre of diesel from a house in Kaller village in adjoining Rajouri district and had arrested two persons selling Army fuel. The police sources said during investigations, the accused had divulged the names of Army units from where they had purchased the fuel.

Jammu-based defence spokesman SN Acharya told The Tribune that nothing had come to the notice of the Army authorities.