PHC seeks report on Karak crude oil theft in three months

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Petroleum to provide technical support to the Federal Investigation Agency and also instructed the authorities to submit a detailed report of theft of crude oil in Karak district within three months.

A division bench of the PHC comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Arshad Ali had summoned the officials of the FIA and the Ministry of Petroleum in a writ petition regarding theft of crude oil.

A team of FIA Anti-Corruption Circle headed by Additional Director Sajjad Khan and Secretary Petroleum Mian Asad appeared in the court. The bench expressed anger at officials of Ministry of Petroleum for not cooperating with FIA in the conduct of enquiry. The officials of the ministry tendered an apology and told the court that a team of experts would be tasked with assisting the FIA.

The bench directed the FIA and the Ministry of Petroleum to conduct a forensic audit of the company concerned. The ministry was also directed to provide technical help to FIA in conducting the enquiry. The authorities were directed to submit a report in the case within three months.

The PHC in January 2019 directed the FIA to file a detailed report about the alleged crude oil theft in Karak, which has huge deposits of oil and gas. The court issued the directive after hearing a writ petition filed by residents of Karak against an international oil and gas exploration company seeking orders for probing the theft of crude oil worth billions of rupees from the oil and gas fields in the district.

The petition was jointly filed by a number of residents of Banda Daud Shah, a tehsil of Karak district. The FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Peshawar had registered a case against the company concerned in 2016 with the approval of the competent authority.

The allegations were related to mega theft of crude oil through different modes including the puncturing the main oil transmission line at different places, use of water bowzers for transportationof stolen oil, and illegal enhancement of storage capacity of oil tankers for transporting the stolen oil from the oilfields.

During the course of enquiry, the FIA team obtained the relevant record from the authorities concerned and also visited the installations of two oil and gas exploration companies, MOL and OGDCL. The statements of staff stationed at petroleum units in Karak were also recorded.

Later, it was decided to transfer the inquiry to NAB as FIA could not procure the record already been investigated by any other law-enforcement agency. However, NAB KP returned the said enquiry in November 2020 for disposal by the FIA.