The operation started a year ago and suspected dhabas were closely examined.
JAIPUR: At least 200 dhabas (eateries) on Jaipur-Delhi highway were found to be working in collusion with gangs involved in diesel thefts, milk adulteration and bootlegging, revealed a report titled ‘Operation Highway’ prepared by Jaipur (rural) police.
The operation was undertaken about a year ago and each suspected dhaba was closely examined. Some of the eateries were found to be working as shelter grounds for gangs.
Jaipur Rural SP Shankar Dutt Sharma said police had learned about gangs stealing chemicals, diesel and edible oils from tankers which took a brief halt at dhabas. “At other places, we found truck drivers were working in cahoots with the gangs and allowed ghee (butter) to be stolen from their tankers,” he said. One particular crime evoked special interest when Shahpura police station learned that some accused were stealing crude oil from an underground pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
According to Sharma, all these criminal incidents had one common footprint- dhabas on the national highway. “We set out to find what was going on at these dhabas. What we found was shocking, the illegal activities had become the mainstay of their business while serving food was just a secondary priority. Primarily because the illegal business earned a windfall for them,” Sharma said.
Since 2019 onwards, a total of 1,643 accused have been arrested for bootlegging, 154 for drug smuggling, 176 for pilfering oil, diesel, milk, etc. “The main aim was to clear the highway of the criminals that had swamped the long stretch that cuts across many cities,” Sharma said.
Interestingly, police found that many of the complaints pertaining to the loot from tankers ferrying crude oil, milk, and chemicals, had turned into a major criminal enterprise wherein the gangs steal from the tank and mix it with substandard items. On June 6 last year, police found that a gang had stolen ghee from the truck of a branded company. The subsequent investigation revealed that the accused had mixed the branded ghee with chemicals and tried to sell it to local shops.
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