At nine on Tuesday night, residents of Suraj Vihar near Dwarka heard a loud blast that shook the buildings around. When police reached the site of the explosion, they noticed an 8-ft deep ditch. On further examination, the cops realised that it was part of a tunnel leading to a pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation from where a group was pilfering petrol.
Excessive gas pressure had led to the blast. The cops arrested the kingpin of the racket, Zubair, a scrap dealer from Daryaganj.
The other men managed to escape under cover of darkness. Police said the crooks had managed to steal around 3,000 litres of petrol in the week since they had gained access to the pipeline.