Illegal aircraft fuel seized

About 1,800 litres of aircraft fuel, "illegally stored" by a private pilot training institute, has been seized from Sonari aerodrome in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Acting on a tip-off, deputy commissioner Nitin Madan Kulkarni directed Dalbhum sub-divisional officer Ranjan Choudhury to conduct a raid on the institute premises. The SDO's Monday night raid lead to the recovery of the fuel. Choudhury said the institute did not have license for storing such a huge quantity of the inflammable fuel.

An FIR has been lodged at Sonari police station against the chairman, the vice-chairman and the local authority of the institute respectively for storing the aircraft fuel without license, he added.