TDS Desk:

An innovative fraudulent scheme to ‘steal’ fuel has emerged in the state-owned fuel marketing company, Jamuna Oil.

A transportation contract concealed the actual carrying capacity of a tanker lorry. The lorry had a capacity to carry 13,500 litres, but the contract stated it could carry only 9,000 litres.

Several officials of Jamuna Oil Company, speaking to Journalist on condition of anonymity, said the concealing the lorry’s extra 4,500-litre capacity in the contract was not normal. The motive was to load the excess fuel into the lorry, send it out of the depot and steal the oil.

It is alleged that a number of Jamuna Oil officials and the owner of the tanker lorry are involved in this fraud.

According to sources at Jamuna Oil Company, on 27 July a contract was signed with a tanker lorry of Messrs. Asiya Enterprise to transport fuel from the Daulatpur depot in Khulna. A few days after the contract, the tanker was used to deliver diesel to the Rampal power plant in Bagerhat. However, noticing discrepancies in the tanker’s carrying capacity, the officials in charge at the power plant refused to accept the diesel.

News of the discrepancy in the carrying capacity of Asyia Enterprise’s tanker and the power plant’s refusal to accept the fuel soon spread. At that point, the tanker’s owners and workers lodged objections with Jamuna Oil Company regarding the irregularity.

Abul Kalam, general secretary of the Padma-Meghna-Jamuna Tanker Lorry Workers’ Welfare Association, told journalist: “The lorry holds 13,500 liters, but fraudulently it was shown as 9,000 liters. There is no provision for doing such a thing. That is why both the owners and the workers raised objections.”

State-owned companies Jamuna, Padma, and Meghna hire tanker lorries to transport petroleum products by road. For this, all the necessary information about the lorries must be accurate.

Before signing a transport contract for fuel, the carrying capacity of a lorry must be verified (calibrated) and certified by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).

Documents from Jamuna show that the tanker lorry of Asyia Enterprise mentioned in the contract bore the registration number Dhaka Metro-Da-42-0012. A copy of the BSTI certificate was submitted to Jamuna, showing the lorry’s capacity as 9,000 liters.

According to Jamuna Oil Company sources, the contract with the Asyia Enterprise lorry for transporting fuel from the Daulatpur depot in Khulna was signed on 27 July. Based on the certificate, it was said that the calibration had been conducted and signed on 25 June by Md. Alauddin Hossain, deputy director of BSTI’s Khulna regional office.

When Journalistcontacted the BSTI Khulna office to verify the certificate, the office confirmed that the official whose signature appeared on it had been transferred to Dhaka in January. Therefore, he could not have signed the document. In fact, the certificate was forged.

Scanning the QR code on the certificate brought up a calibration report for a different vehicle—registration number Jhenaidah-Da-41-0038. That report was dated December 2024. This vehicle, too, belongs to Asyia Enterprise, with Md. Manik Sheikh listed as the owner.

Speaking to journalist, Manik Sheikh said that he mistakenly signed the contract to transport a smaller volume of fuel with a higher-capacity lorry. He said he did not understate the lorry’s actual capacity in order to take extra fuel. Because of the objections raised, he withdrew from the contract.

On 18 August, Asyia Enterprise submitted a letter to Jamuna’s managing director. In the letter, it was stated that due to personal business complications, the tanker lorry could no longer be operated. Therefore, the company requested that the contract be canceled and the security deposit of Tk 500,000 be refunded.

Sources say, however, that as the fraud had been exposed, Jamuna Oil hurriedly prepared a letter to cancel the contract. The letter was shown to be signed on 3 August, though the lorry had transported oil from the depot even on 17 August. Then the date of the letter was quickly amended to 18 August.

The wording of the two letters was the same. The letters state that based on the managing director’s approval, the tanker lorry was permitted to transport fuel. However, although it was listed as a 9,000-litre lorry, in reality it has a capacity of 13,500 litres. A 9,000-litre lorry typically has two chambers, but this vehicle has three. As a result, Jamuna Oil Company would incur financial losses. Therefore, the contract with the tanker lorry was canceled.

Jamuna Oil Company’s managing director, Mustafa Qudrat-e-Elahi, told Journalistthat the contract with the lorry had been canceled because of discrepancies between its actual carrying capacity and the certificate. “The matter should have been verified before the contract was signed; but under what circumstances and how this happened will be investigated,” he said.

Regarding the multiple letters and the differing statements from the two sides about the cancellation of the contract, Mustafa Qudrat-e-Elahi said he would comment only after an investigation.

However, two officials of Jamuna Oil Company told Journalistthat stolen fuel leaves the depot in tank lorries. In each lorry, a little extra fuel is added, which is later shown as technical loss. Therefore, the motive behind concealing the lorry’s additional 4,500-litre capacity is clear. Fuel theft at Jamuna is nothing new, they contended.