SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 23: All petrol pumps in Dhanbad will not operate at night from May 1. This will be done against the extortion demand and rising crime incidents at the refilling centres.
Coalfield Petroleum Dealers Association (CPDA), the frontal organization of the 172 refilling centres, on Friday evening unanimously resolved to shut down all petrol pumps in the district at night from 10 pm to 5 am the next morning for the safety and security of staff and operators from the criminals.
The association decided in wake of extortion demand and firing on staff at City Fuel Petrol Pump based on the side of inter-state GT road in Gayadhara under Govindpur police station on Thursday night. Criminals shot at staff Rajesh Paswan and injured him.
The criminals had earlier demanded extortion from City Fuel Petrol Pump owner Gulam Qadir. When he reportedly did not fall in line, they (criminals) shot at Rajesh on Thursday late at night. Gulam Qadir lodged an FIR in Govindpur police station against Aman Singh and Chhotu Singh in this connection.
The victim petrol pump owner said that a few days ago, criminals had demanded extortion from him. On Thursday night, two criminals on a bike came to the petrol pump at 10 pm. They stayed for almost one hour and even used the washroom. Finally, when the staff (Rajesh) on suspicion asked about their identity, they fired on him.
A delegation of CPDA under president Madhav Singh met Gulam Qadir and assessed the situation. Vice-presidents Brajesh Roy, Ritesh Singh, and general secretary Sanjiv Rana were the members of the delegation.
“Petrol pump owners and staff are in panic following extortion demand and shoot out incident at Gayadhara petrol pump. So, it would be impossible to run petrol pumps at night at the risk of life. Till security is not provided, petrol pump owners will have to shut down the pumps at night,” said Sanjiv Rana.
The CPDA general secretary said that a delegation would meet the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sanjiv Kumar and demand security for petrol pump operators and staff.
He further said that this was not the first incident at a petrol pump albeit it is a routine practice of criminals at night to get their bike refilled and flee away without paying. Moreover, sometimes they also rough up with the staff. “This happens mostly at night at national highway based petrol pumps,” he said
