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IPOH – The Perak Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry nabbed two local men for buying subsidised diesel for commercial use near Manjung yesterday.
Its director Datuk Kamalludin Ismail said the two suspects, aged 69 and 53, were detained in the Pundut quarry area, in Lumut, in an operation dubbed “Ops Tiris”.
“Also seized during the operation was a lorry loaded with subsidised diesel. The operation was carried out following a week of surveillance and intelligence gathering on diesel-buying activities at petrol stations in Manjung,
“The suspects were found using lorries with modified fuel tanks and they would go to petrol stations repeatedly as a cover for their activities,” he said in a statement here.
Kamalludin said through this modus operandi, they were able to obtain 250ℓ of diesel, which they would subsequently use for their company’s machinery and vehicles.
“They should not be using subsidised diesel (for commercial purposes), but instead have to buy commercial- or industrial-category diesel,” he said.
In the operation, the team also found a tank with a maximum capacity of 15,000ℓ, 2,250ℓ of diesel, and equipment used to transfer the diesel – all of which were estimated to be worth RM46,800.
The case will be investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and Control of Supplies Regulations 1974, Kamalludin added.
Meanwhile in Kedah, the ministry’s state office seized 12,000ℓ of diesel believed to have been misappropriated and worth RM25,800 in a raid on a storeroom at an oil palm plantation in Bedong near Sg Petani yesterday.
The ministry’s Kedah director Affendi Rajini Kanth, in a statement today, said in the 1.30pm Ops Tiris raid, the team also seized two skid tanks and four pipe hoses worth RM10,200.
He said the case was being investigated under Sections 21 and 20(1) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961. – Bernama, March 7, 2023