33 petrol bunks in AP and Telangana using chips to cheat customers

Hyderabad: Joint Raids conducted by Telangana Police & Controller of Legal Metrology department and Andhra Pradesh Police, AP Legal Metrology department Seized 11 Fuel stations in Telangana state and 22 in Andhra Pradesh State and arrested one. Interstate gang indulged in cheating and irregularities in a fuel station. One accused Sk. Subhani Basha alias Basha and recovered about 14 ICs (chips), 08 Displays, 03 GBR cable's, 01 Motherboard, one Hyundai i20 car from his possession

As part of the eradication of Organized Crime, Special Operation Team, Cyberabad gathered information about the installation of Integrated Chips (I.Cs), which are programmed with manipulated software, in Fuel Stations Filling Machines. This chips wherein connivance of Fuel station owners and causing massive loss of crores of rupees to consumers by delivering less petrol than the actual display on filling machine board (2%-3% less for every 1000ml), said the police.

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If a consumer purchases 1 Ltr of petrol, he will be getting 0.97 ltr of petrol, and thereby the fuel station owners earn money by fraudulent manner. The Special Operation Team Cyberabad and Nandigama

The accused Sk. Subhani Basha is a resident of West Godavari district, worked as fuel station pump mechanic for more than 10 yrs in East and West Godavari districts, AP. Basha learnt work of fuel station pump mechanism and became an expert in that field. Basha was an expert in the installation of manipulated chips in Fuel Dispensing Machines which delivers less petrol than the actual display onboard/meter. The accused used to purchase the chips and manipulated software from Jo Joseph, Shibu Thomas from Mumbai and started programming the chips and installing the same in different Fuel Stations in Telangana & Andhra Pradesh State with the help of his associates at the prize of Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 1,20,000 per each programmed chip installation from the fuel station owner's.

Basha purchased manipulated chips and software and started programming and installation of the same in TS/AP State's through different mediators in connivance with the Fuel Station owners.

The fraudsters used to install the IC's only in one fuel pump out of two. For filling fuel in vehicles, manipulated pumps were used and to fill in plastic bottles, cans; regular pumps were used which did not have controlled chips, so that the public does not know about the fraud said the police.

In 2018, all over the country, new software was installed in all fuel stations. This gang started installing IC's since 2019. For almost more than one year, they were indulging in this cheating. Yesterday and today, joint raids were conducted by Cyberabad Police and Telangana State Legal Metrology officials in TS.

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