Last Updated on November 13, 2026 by YeJahan
YEJAHAN REPORT
RAWALPINDI (Nov 13): A monitoring team from Attock Refinery, working alongside local police, has uncovered a major crude oil theft operation in the Ranial area, arresting three suspects and recovering stolen fuel, digging tools, and transport vehicles.
According to a First Information Report (FIR) registered on the complaint of Shahid Ahmed, a senior executive officer at Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), the suspects tapped into a high-pressure underground pipeline supplying crude oil from Khaur to the Attock Oil Refinery Limited (ARL) in Rawalpindi. The company estimates that roughly 1,100 barrels of crude oil, valued at approximately Rs23.22 million, were siphoned off during the heist.
POL officials had been tracking suspected pilferage along the pipeline corridor stretching from Ranial to Morgah for some time. At around 8:15 am on November 8, Ahmed and his patrol team, comprising Syed Mudassar Abbas Shah and Zaheer Babar, detected a strong smell of crude oil outside a rented house in Ranial.
Suspecting illegal tapping, the team immediately alerted the police helpline 15. Officers arrived at the scene, raided the premises, and arrested three men found inside: Muhammad Mumtaz, Shaukat, and Muhammad Ikram.
During initial questioning, the suspects revealed an elaborate setup hidden beneath the property. One of the suspects, Mumtaz, led police to a Suzuki Carry van (registration number BQM-918) parked in the porch, which concealed an underground storage tank directly beneath it. Investigators recovered 1,431 litres of stolen crude oil from the tank, sealing a 1.5-litre sample for laboratory testing.
Another suspect Shaukat told the police that the group had dug a tunnel from the house, running beneath an adjacent vacant plot, to reach POL’s main six-inch high-pressure pipeline. They attached an illegal metal clamp to siphon the oil directly into the house via a 181-foot-long network of high-pressure pipes. They used the Suzuki Carry van to haul the stolen crude oil away from the residence for illegal sale.
Technical teams later excavated the site and spent several hours safely depressurizing the main line to remove the illegal clamp without triggering a leak or explosion.
Police impounded the Suzuki Carry van, a rickshaw (registration number RIU-17-238), three mobile phones, and the 181 feet of multi-colored high-pressure piping, valves, and joint sockets used in the theft. Photographic and video evidence from the raid has also been made part of the case record.
During interrogation, the arrested men named four accomplices—Sajid, Akhtar, Hafizur Rehman, and Zahid—as active members of the gang. Police are also investigating the role of the property’s caretaker, Shah Muhammad, who allegedly facilitated the suspects in renting the house for the operation.
Raids are currently underway to apprehend the remaining suspects and recover the financial losses incurred by the company.
Copyright YeJahan News Newtork, 2026
