Leh/Jammu: Two junior engineers of the Border Roads Organisation’s engineering wing Garrison Reserve Engineers Force (GREF) were arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing and selling government bitumen. Nine others were also nabbed in the case for being involved in the incident. The government bitumen supply was meant for building roads in Ladakh.
The roads were being built to facilitate the movement of Indian Army personnel and equipment. Roads were being built quickly keeping in mind the escalating tension at the border between Indian and Chinese troops.
Police said 480 barrels of bitumen worth Rs 36 lakh were seized during a raid in Leh district. The raids were carried on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. A Leh police station patrolling party spotted eight suspicious trucks and got alerted by their movements towards a crusher plant, they said.
The patrol unit found that each truck was carrying 60 barrels of bitumen. They said the barrels were being illegally unloaded at the crusher plant. On further enquiry and perusal of the tax invoice vouchers produced by the drivers the patrol party discovered something amiss. They found that the bitumen barrels belonged to the Garrison Reserve Engineers Force, Ladakh, and were meant to be unloaded somewhere else, they said.
A case was lodged against 10 people including two JEs of the GREF at the Leh police station. The owner of the crusher plant and the eight drivers were also arrested from the spot and they are under custody at the Leh police station.