SHEIKHUPURA, June 2: Farooqabad Sadar police on Monday caught red-handed seven people while stealing petro-oil after fitting a pipe in the main supply line coming from Pak Arab Oil Refinery, Karachi, to Macheki depot.

The theft was indicated by an official of the depot when supply of the consignment suddenly decreased. This was stated by DPO Sheikh Zaeem Iqbal in a press briefing here.

He said a Farooqabad Sadar police team, led by SHO Manzoor raided Makki 460 and found seven people sitting around the main supply line. The accused had fixed a pipe in the main supply line after digging a hole and were filling drums with oil, the DPO said. The police arrested them and recovered empty and filled drums, besides cutters, plastic pipe and other tools from the spot.

The DPO said the arrested accused had already stolen a huge quantity of petrol from Nankana, Faisalabad and Multan. He announced prizes and commendation certificates for the police team.

POWER POLES: A thunderstorm on Monday morning uprooted 19 electricity poles on Narang-Narowal Road. Seven poles fell on the road, suspending traffic for several hours.

The electricity supply in Narang city and its adjoining areas could not be restored till the filing of this report till 7pm.

A Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) team had reached the spot and doing repair work.