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Fuel confiscated from ‘hoarders’ still not returned to CPC

06 Jul 2022

  • Police says court order needed to return 
  • Petrol at Rs. 2,000 per litre on black market
Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), and Attorney-at-Law (AAL) Nihal Thalduwa said yesterday (5) that a court order needs to be obtained if the approximately 100,000 litres of fuel that have been confiscated by the Police in raids conducted so far is to be returned to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).  Speaking to The Morning yesterday, Thalduwa said that 980 raids conducted to date in this regard have led to the finding of 28,303 litres of petrol, 64,783 litres of diesel, and 13,268 litres of kerosene – a total of 106,354 litres of fuel. These raids have led to the arrest of 909 suspects.  “We have to send samples of the stocks we find to the CPC for testing. After that, the court needs to order us to return the stocks to the CPC,” said Thalduwa.  Sri Lanka is facing its worst fuel shortage to date, with only a few thousand metric tonnes of petrol remaining with the CPC. As a result of this, the CPC has stopped issuing fuel to private vehicles while the privately run Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has rationed the amount of fuel issued to private consumers too. In this context, reports of illegally hoarding fuel have skyrocketed. A three-wheeler driver who wished to remain anonymous told The Morning yesterday that black market petrol can be found for Rs. 2,000 per litre, and is usually sold by three-wheeler drivers to owners of private vehicles who do not wish to remain in lengthy queues. He explained that some three-wheeler drivers are engaged in selling black market fuel, as the fuel crisis coupled with the economic crisis has severely affected their daily income levels.   “When we stay in line for three days, we only get a few litres of petrol. We can only run maybe a day’s worth of hires with that, and have to return to the queue afterwards. It is not feasible. That is why some people are now just selling fuel in the black market,” he said.


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