KARACHI, Dec 3: With the rising oil and petroleum prices in the country, illegal sale of petroleum products is growing in the city, particularly in the outskirts.

The business is taking the shape of an organised network being run with the support of influential people throughout the country. The petrol being smuggled from Iran in connivance with security personnel is transported to the four provinces and tribal agencies.

The price of smuggled Irani petrol reported on Saturday was Rs45 per litre while the rate at filling stations was Rs58 per letter. In slum areas with less number of filling stations, sale of smuggled petrol is a very lucrative business.

A dealer in Orangi town told this scribe that though the business was illegal people were selling it across the country. He said those having the authority to check it were getting their ‘share’ regularly. He said other products like mobil oil were also smuggled but small dealers were selling only the petrol.

When asked about its supply, he said he did not know where Irani petrol had been stocked claiming that the dealers are supplying it on order.

A motorcyclist said the smuggled petrol was far better for people like him as it was cheaper. “I am a milkman and can hardly earn Rs200 after a day-long service, which could not meet my daily expenditures,” he said.

A manager of a filling station in Orangi, Rizwan, said the petroleum dealers association had time and again raised the issue and the government had also taken action in this regard, but the illegal business was flourishing without any check.

He said, “We are regular tax payers and strictly abide by the rules of the government, but the concerned officials are least bothered to protect us from the usurpers”.

He said the dealers were not responsible for the increase in petroleum prices. He stressed that the illegal sale could not be curbed unless smuggling was stopped.