this is from BBC. Apparently its been going on for a long time, and 30% of the diesel being stolen is alot. How come this is the first time they found out about it??
Tanker owners in Indian-administered Kashmir say a scam to steal army diesel fuel involves officers and has been going on for years. The region’s Petrol Tank Owners Association says the scam involves drivers, officers and middlemen and has cost hundreds of millions of rupees.
The army has not commented on the claim but says it is investigating the scam.
The army on Tuesday found that diesel in seven tankers bound for Ladakh had been sold off and replaced with water.
‘30% stolen’
The chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Petrol Tank Owners Association, Anan Sharma, told the BBC, there had been an agreement between some army officers, tanker drivers and middlemen to sell off the fuel en-route from the filling depot.
Mr Sharma said the scam had been flourishing since Islamic militancy erupted in Indian-administered Kashmir in the 1990s.
He said more than 30% of oil supplies meant for the army are stolen.
Mr Sharma said some army officers forced tanker drivers to steal the oil and sell it in the open market.
The illegal trade picks up around this time of the year when the army stocks up on fuel before snows cover the mountain passes, Mr Sharma said.
He said a number of cases had been reported in the past but tanker owners were harassed by the army and oil companies when such cases were covered in the media.
A spokesman for the Indian army’s Northern Command, Col RK Sen, refused to comment on Mr Sharma’s allegations.
Senior officer, Maj Gen NS Brar, told journalists in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, that the army was conducting its own investigation into the scam.
India’s largest oil company - the Indian Oil Corporation - which supplies oil to the army, has also launched its own inquiry.
