Overview
- Swarn Singh, 55, and Dharmender (Rinku), 50, were apprehended near Vikaspuri in Delhi after months of technical and manual surveillance triggered by a tip-off.
- Both men carried rewards of Rs 25,000 and had been on the run since a June raid in Jaipur exposed a tunnel from a rented premises to an underground HPCL line.
- Investigators say a GI pipe and valve assembly diverted diesel into concealed storage and pickup trucks while cover businesses enabled night operations.
- Police records attribute a decades-long series of pipeline thefts to Singh, with cases across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab and a refined modus operandi since about 2011.
- Authorities are pursuing charges under pipeline and public property laws and are mapping accomplices and buyers, with HPCL confirming unauthorised tapping and quantities not yet disclosed.