Alleged Fuel Theft Scheme Uncovered at Jamuna Oil

A new method of fuel misappropriation has reportedly surfaced inside the state-owned Jamuna Oil Company, involving deliberate manipulation of tanker lorry capacities in transportation contracts.

According to internal sources, a tanker with the capacity to carry 13,500 litres of diesel was officially documented in a contract as having only 9,000 litres of capacity. This discrepancy of 4,500 litres was allegedly used as a cover to siphon off fuel from the depot. Insiders claim that certain officials of Jamuna Oil may have colluded with the tanker’s owner to facilitate the fraud.

Contract and Discovery

On 27 July, a deal was signed with Messrs. Asiya Enterprise to transport fuel from Jamuna’s Daulatpur depot in Khulna. Within days, the tanker was used to deliver fuel to the Rampal power plant in Bagerhat. However, staff at the plant detected irregularities in the tanker’s actual capacity and refused to accept the delivery.

Word quickly spread about the mismatch, and objections were raised by both workers and owners of the tanker. Abul Kalam, general secretary of the Tanker Lorry Workers’ Welfare Association, said:

“The tanker’s true capacity was 13,500 litres, but it was falsely registered as 9,000 litres. Such manipulation is unlawful, and this is why our members strongly objected.”

Forged Certificate

All tankers used by Jamuna, Padma, and Meghna Oil companies are required to undergo capacity verification by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI). In this case, Asiya Enterprise submitted a certificate showing a 9,000-litre capacity, allegedly signed in June by a BSTI official.

But a check with the BSTI Khulna office revealed that the officer whose name appeared on the document had already been transferred to Dhaka months earlier. Scanning the QR code on the certificate revealed an entirely different calibration report — belonging to another Asiya Enterprise vehicle. This suggests the submitted document was fabricated.

Attempts to Withdraw

The tanker’s owner, Md. Manik Sheikh, admitted that the vehicle’s true capacity was larger but insisted he did not intentionally understate it. He later sent a letter to Jamuna Oil on 18 August requesting to cancel the agreement and recover his Tk 500,000 security deposit.

However, sources allege that after the fraud was detected, Jamuna Oil hurriedly drafted a cancellation letter dated 3 August, even though the tanker continued transporting fuel until mid-August. The date on the letter was later corrected to 18 August.

Official Response

Jamuna Oil’s managing director, Mustafa Qudrat-e-Elahi, confirmed that the contract had been canceled due to inconsistencies in the tanker’s capacity certification. He acknowledged that the verification process had failed and promised an internal inquiry into how the deal was approved.

Despite this, company insiders maintain that the practice of siphoning fuel under the guise of “technical loss” is well established at Jamuna Oil. The concealment of the tanker’s additional 4,500-litre capacity, they argue, fits into a broader pattern of systemic misappropriation.