Black marketeering of diesel has spread in eastern Nepal as the market has been hit by a shortage after Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) reduced deliveries to gasoline stations.

The Morang Police on Sunday seized a tanker being loaded with diesel intended for the black market. According to the police, the tanker was caught loading fuel at Dhital Oil Traders in Biratnagar.  

Similarly, the police confiscated 2,000 litres diesel being pumped into a large container at Pathivara Petrol Pump, Katahari a week ago. The owner of the petrol pump, Arvinda Kumar Sharma, is the second vice-president of the Eastern Petroleum Dealers’ Association.

Morang Police Chief Sandip Bhandari said that the police had impounded a fuel tanker with registration number Na 4 Kha 4142 along with 19,500 litres of petrol. According to him, the tanker was being used to sell diesel at an exorbitant price on the black market.  

The police have arrested five individuals involved in transporting the fuel. Tanker driver Jogindra Urav Chauhaan of Singiya, Sunsari, conductor Bhim Bahadur Majhi of Prakaspur-6, Sunsari and petrol pump attendant Bajaru Chaudhari, Ramesh Adhikari of Biratnagar-5 and Sitaram Chaudhary of Baklauri-3, Sunsari were caught red-handed.

With a fuel shortage continuing in the region, many gasoline stations have sought to make a fast buck by selling diesel on the black market.

Basudev Bhandari, deputy director of NOC’s regional depot, claimed that there had been a reduction in the supply of diesel from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). “Compared to the supply of 800,000 litres in the past, the IOC depot has been providing only 400,000 litres daily,” said Bhandari.

According to the police, petrol pumps can earn Rs10 per litre more by selling on the black market. High demand from industry amid short supply has given rise to black marketing.

NOC supplies 50,000 litres of diesel to the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor while the requirement far exceeds that figure, said the source.