Indian army fuel turns to water

By Binoo Joshi
BBC News, Jammu

Ladakh is a harsh terrain that needs to stock fuel for winter

India's army has uncovered a scam that may have had troops in its troubled Kashmir filling their armoured vehicles with water rather than fuel.

The army of the Northern Command found seven tankers supposed to be carrying diesel to the Ladakh region had been filled with water instead.

The army thinks middlemen sold off the fuel en-route from the filling depot.

The case has embarrassed the army, which needs to stock up on fuel before snows cover the mountain passes.

Delhi has thousands of troops stationed in Indian-administered Kashmir. Both Pakistan and India claim Kashmir in its entirety and the nations have fought two wars over the region.

'Sold off'

Spokesman for the Northern Command at Udhampur, Col RK Sen, told the BBC that troops in the area had received a tip-off on stolen diesel supplies.

He said in a joint operation with police they seized seven tankers outside the army depot in Leh, capital of Ladakh, that were found to be carrying water instead.

The tankers have a capacity of 9,000 litres and travelled from depots in Ambala, Pathankot and Jammu along two routes - one through the state of Himachal Pradesh and the other via Udampur and the Kashmir Valley.

The losses for the stolen fuel run into tens of thousands of dollars.

Col Sen said this was the first time he had heard of such a case and it seemed to be the work of middlemen who supplied diesel from the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation to the army camps.

"It appeared the contents of these tankers were sold off either at Ambala [in the northern state of Haryana] itself or en-route to Leh.

"The incident has caused serious concern for the army as it needs to stock diesel, petrol and kerosene for the winter months before the mountain passes close in September and October."

Police have registered a case against the drivers of the tankers.

Senior superintendent of police at Leh, Alok Kumar, said there would be a detailed investigation into the matter.