Corporator hauls pump to cops for filling less fuel

A Congress corporator from Dahisar took a south Mumbai petrol pump owner to task for allegedly filling less diesel in her car than what she actually paid for. On Thursday, Sheetal Mhatre was returning from the BMC office at CST after attending a meeting in the corporation house. On her way back home, Mhatre told her driver to stop for refuelling the car. Around 6.30 pm, they went to Kausar petrol pump and filled up diesel for Rs 1,000, and left for Dahisar.u00a0

Out of gas: The manager complained that Sheetal Mhatre called him a cheater and then threatened to shut down the petrol pump.u00a0File pic

According to her complaint registered with the Agripada police station, as she reached the highway near Jogeshwari, her car ran out of fuel and sputtered to a stop. Mhatre said, "I was returning home after attending a BMC meeting. I told my driver to refuel the car at a pump nearby. I was surprised that right after filling it up with diesel, my car stopped when I reached near Jogeshwari-Goregaon highway."

Convinced that the pump owner had cheated her, she decided to confront him the next morning. Mhatre said, "When I complained to the manager, he offered to settle the matter by giving me fuel worth Rs 1,000 or refunding the cash. When I objected, he told me, ‘Do whatever you want'." Mhatre said she was put off by the curt dismissal and filed a complaint against the owner at Agridpada police station.

‘She threatened me'
Arun Kumar Pandey, manager of Kausar petrol pump, said, "At the time our helper filled diesel in her car, the meter was functioning accurately. Her driver checked the meter and paid us accordingly. The next day, she came here and created a ruckus. I offered to refill the diesel for Rs 1,000 or refund the sum to her in cash.

But she called me a cheater in front of the staff and threatened that she would force me to shut the petrol pump." Sawailal Chavhan, investigation officer of Agripada police station, said, "We have registered a case of cheating against Kausar petrol pump under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC."

He added, "We are still inquiring whether there was a problem in the meter reading or in the corporator's car. It is possible that the meter is showing the correct reading, but is not supplying the fuel accordingly." Satyanarayan Dubey, the man who refuelled Mhatre's car, said, "Every day for the past several years, 100-200 regular customers come here for petrol or diesel, but none has ever complained. She came here for the first time and lodged an FIR in the police station." Dubey has been working at the fuel station for three years. u00a0