Meerut, May 28 -- What appeared to be a regular roadside petrol pump in Shahjahanpur was, in reality, a full-fledged fake fuel operation quietly selling spurious petrol and diesel to unsuspecting motorists for nearly a year. The racket in Dingurpur village, under the Roza police station limits, was busted with the arrest of five people. Thousands of litres of adulterated petrol, diesel and industrial chemicals were seized during the raid. Officials said the accused had created an entire parallel fuel business, allegedly selling over 50,000 litres of fake fuel by mixing industrial chemicals with petrol and diesel in a 60:40 ratio. Police said the syndicate could prepare one litre of "petrol" at a cost of around Rs.60, earning huge profits while putting vehicle owners at risk. Authorities warned that prolonged use of such fuel was liable to badly damage engines, causing carbon deposits and serious mechanical failures. The racket came to light after officials received complaints regarding adulterated fuel being sold in the area on May 22. Acting on the information, the district supply officer, along with a team of officials, raided the illegal petrol pump located in Bhavalkheda area's Dingurpur village. Authorities sealed the petrol pump and recovered around 300 litres of petrol and 100 litres of diesel from underground tanks. Two workers, identified as Aman Kumar and Rocky, were detained from the spot. Officials also recovered a register containing records of petrol and diesel sales. The illegal fuel station had two underground storage tanks with capacities of 10,000 litres and 12,000 litres respectively. SP City, Shahjahanpur, Devendra Singh, said that an FIR was registered at Roza police station following the raid and two police teams were formed to investigate the case. "During investigation, it was found that the illegal petrol pump was being operated by Shivraj Verma, a resident of Nigohi police station area. Police arrested three accused on Monday night, including the main operator Shivraj Verma, his associate Rambaran alias Viresh, and another employee Ashraf Ali Khan from Lakhimpur Kheri. Viresh was responsible for the adulteration work," the SP City said. Roza and Sindhauli police later raided a warehouse operated by Viresh in Mooda Haris village. Officials recovered nearly 10,000 litres of petrol, diesel, and chemicals stored in 65 drums from the premises. Fuel samples have been sent for laboratory testing. Police said Viresh bought chemicals named MIX SOLV-P-SPL and HCM SPL-M from Kanpur-based Prestige Coating Limited. Four purchase bills related to the chemicals were also recovered during the investigation. Police said chemicals worth approximately Rs 37 were used in every litre of petrol and around Rs 20 in every litre of diesel, enabling the accused to manufacture adulterated petrol at a cost of Rs 60 to Rs 65 per litre. The accused admitted that during peak demand periods they sold around 700 to 800 litres of adulterated fuel daily. They also confessed to having sold more than 50,000 litres of fake fuel over the last year....