Customs seals 1800 petrol pumps, seizes petrol, diesel

LAHORE: Around 1800 petrol pumps were sealed out of 2600 petrol pumps which were identified as illegal by the Custom officials in a move against oil smugglers across the country.

According to the documents available with The News, petrol worth Rs419,905,013 has been seized from these illegal petrol pumps while diesel worth Rs534,718,502 was also seized by the Custom officials.

In Punjab, more than 1600 petrol pumps were identified as illegal and more than 1000 petrol pumps sealed by the Custom officials with cooperation of districts administrations concerned. Petrol worth Rs2, 595, 291 and diesel worth Rs3,126,133 has been seized by the Custom officials in the province.

In Khyber Pakthunkhwa, 400 petrol outlets were identified illegal while less than 300 petrol pumps sealed by the Customs in cooperation with districts administrations concerned. Petrol worth Rs534, 653 and diesel worth Rs585,161 was seized.

In Sindh, more than 500 petrol outlets were identified and more than 400 petrol pumps were sealed by the Custom officials in cooperation with districts administrations concerned. Petrol worth Rs715, 340 and diesel worth Rs1, 012,785 was seized by the Custom officials.

A top official at the Customs Office Lahore said legality of 553 petrol pumps was being verified. If these were found illegal, action would be taken against their owners. The official shared said around 70 FIRs were registered against the owners who were running illegal petrol pumps and selling smuggled petrol. Their bank statements and properties would be checked. He also said from whom they purchased oil plus companies would be interrogated. It is pertinent to mention that big quantity of petrol and diesel was seized in South Punjab. The figures mentioned above shows that the Custom department is more active in Punjab than other provinces of the country.

“Custom officials can seize smuggled petrol and diesel,” said Imran Ghaznavi, spokesperson of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). He said, “Steps were taken across the country on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan against oil smuggling and illegal petrol pumps. Regarding this, committee comprising district administration, the MoEPD, representative of Ogra and Custom had been formed.

“In the first phase, action was taken against unregistered and illegal petrol pumps in Punjab, KP and Sindh, where Iranian smuggled petrol and diesel was being sold,” said Syed Nadeem Hussain Rizvi spokesperson of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He said, “All law- enforcement agencies were present on the occasion while action was taken against illegal petrol pumps”. “In the second phase, action would be taken in Balochistan against illegal petrol pumps,” he added.