Surat: Eight workers at a petrol pump allegedly siphoned off Rs 15.76 lakh and disappeared after they were caught by the manager.The accused allegedly shared the stolen money over two months before they were caught by the owners and the manager. The petrol pump was started a year ago in the Saroli area by five partners. Nikunj Akbari, 23, works as manager at Sanidhya Petroleum pump on the Surat-Kadodara Road in Saroli. The pump was started by five partners, who employed Akbari as manager. He handled daily accounts, cash and overall management. Ten days after the pump started, accused Umesh Prajapati contacted Akbari for work and was employed on a salary of Rs 17,000. Four months later, Ramesh Nathu Singh approached Akbari seeking a job and was employed on a salary of Rs 13,500. Singh found that more hands were needed and offered to bring in more workers. After Akbari gave his consent, he brought in the other accused, Sukhdev Singh, Manohar Singh, Kamlesh Singh and Dinesh. All were employed with a salary of Rs 13,500. Akbari employed Om Singh and Arjun Vishwakarma, a few days later. Six months ago, one of the partners, Sunny Dobariya, called Akbari and told him that the bank account balance had been very low for the past two months. Akbari then checked all bill challans and bank entries and found that Rs 15.76 lakh was missing. During the investigation, Akbari found misappropriation in online payments and QR code payments. The accused siphoned off cash by showing false bills. When Akbari called all the eight accused employees, they confessed to the crime and promised to repay the stolen money in three days. However, all of the eight accused left Surat instead. Some fled went to Rajasthan and Telangana, their native states. Saroli police booked all eight and began an investigation.
