Jaipur: Two men allegedly cheated petrol pumps across Jaipur by filling their vehicles with fuel and fleeing without paying, using fake registration plates to evade identification. Police arrested the duo Monday and said they had confessed to more than 20 such offences across the city.Preliminary investigation revealed that neither accused had a criminal record and that they appeared to have randomly targeted petrol pumps to get their vehicles’ tanks filled before fleeing.The accused were identified as Ankit Verma (19), a resident of Kanakpura, and Vishal Mehra (28), a resident of Ganpati Nagar in Sodala. They were arrested by a joint team of the District Special Team (DST), Jaipur West, and Bindayaka police.According to DCP (West) Prashant Kiran, the case was based on a complaint by Rahul Sharma and Bajrang Lal Jat on Oct 28. They alleged that on Oct 23, around 5:11 am, a Swift car bearing a fake registration number (RJ14CK5455) arrived at a petrol pump. Its occupants filled the tank with fuel worth Rs 4,403 and fled without paying.In another incident on Oct 28, around 8.25am,a car bearing the same registration number arrived at Mama Filling Station on Sikar Road. The occupants filled the tank with petrol before driving away without making payment.An FIR was registered at Haza police station under Section 307 of BNS. “Technical surveillance helped us to trace the suspects to Laxmangarh in Sikar district. They allegedly tried to flee after spotting the police team but were apprehended,” Kiran said.During interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted to more than 20 similar offences in Jaipur. Police said they changed or removed their vehicles’ number plates before targeting petrol pumps in Mansarovar, Sodala, Sikar Road, Niwaru, Bindayaka, Vaishali Nagar and Kanota.“They used to get their vehicles refilled and before payment they would flee,” he added.
