Crooks turn to emptying fuel tanks as petrol prices skyrocket

Until a few years ago it was maybe mobile phones that madd for the most stolen item on Karachi’s streets. However, the port city’s robbers and crooks have now turned their eyes to a new commodity that is easier to nick and more precious today than ever before: liquid gold in motorcycle fuel tanks.

Ever since petrol prices jumped to a whooping Rs235 per litre, fuel theft appears to have grown increasingly common in the megacity, leaving citizens to install extra security to keep their vehicles’ fuel tanks from being emptied out.

“This [fuel theft] has become a quite a nuisance now. You fill your tank with your hard earned money, park your motorcycle outside a shop or in an apartment building and come back to find it flushed clean. It’s infuriating,” complained Syed Aamir Ali, a distressed citizen who has now resorted to filling his tank up with just enough petrol to last him a day. “Fuel’s too expensive now, I can’t afford being robbed,” he added.

According to Faraz, who is a motor mechanic at a local garage, sale of motorbike tank caps and petrol locks have seen a 30 per cent increase in the past couple of months, while prices of the locks have also doubled; staring from Rs350 and going up to Rs600 a piece.

Sources at local petrol pumps have also been reporting a drop in petrol sales to the city’s motorcyclists, linking the trend to jacked up fuel prices and increased fuel theft. According to Tayyab, who is a petrol station worker in Karachi, there has been an estimated 20 to 25 per cent drop in petrol buying among motorcycle owners, many of whom have either been cutting down on their motorised commute or buying minimum petrol on a daily basis. “Our regular customers have started coming in more sparsely now. Most of them are waged workers or people from low income groups and they cannot afford fuel anymore,” alleged the gas station worker.

Speaking in the regard, Shariq Tariq who is a sales man at a private company said that he now only uses his motorcycle for work purposes and has cut down on motorised commute that is not entirely necessary. “Until some months ago I’d get two litres of petrol for Rs300 and comfortably bike around all day. Now the same amount of petrol costs me almost rupees 500, which I cannot afford. This city does not have a great public transport infrastructure, while rickshaws, taxis and chinchis have also jacked up their fares in view of the fuel price hikes. So now people like me have little option but to run errands on foot and reserve motorised commute for the absolute most important things like work and emergencies,” the distressed citizen told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2022.