Police recovered pipes, clamps and tools used to dig the tunnel, which was specially designed for oil theft.
KARACHI:
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Thursday foiled an attempted oil theft from the National Oil Refinery by discovering an underground tunnel in the Korangi Industrial Area. The operation, carried out by SIU police in the Mehran town area, led to the discovery of a well-planned oil theft scheme.
According to SIU sub-inspector Owais Tanoli, the criminals had dug a 15-16 feet deep well in a garment warehouse in Mehran town. From the bottom of the well, they built a tunnel about 450 feet long and four feet wide, intended to reach the pipeline connected to the national oil refinery.
The SIU had received a tip from a reliable informant about large quantities of soil being dumped into the Malir River from the warehouse. Based on this information, sub-inspector Owais Tanoli conducted a raid on the warehouse, where the tunnel was discovered.
During the search, four suspects were arrested. Police recovered pipes, clamps and tools used to dig the tunnel, which was specially designed for oil theft. SIU officials confirmed that this timely action averted a major potential disaster in the Korangi industrial area.
