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Nothing fishy about it

SABRINA KARIM MURSHED
“You mean it is illegal?" he raised his eyebrows. "I don't know anything about that, " he shrugged, pouring petrol in a CNG auto-rickshaw.
Zakir Hossain, an 11-year-old, works at his brother's wayside stall near the roundabout of Mirpur section-10, where 'stolen petrol' is sold. As a kid he is to do exactly what his elder brother Aslam Hossain asks him to do. Ethics does not mean anything for him, as it does not matter to those on the other side of the deal.
"We get the petrol from cars," he said. "The car drivers sell it to us," he further clarified. He said the fuel is drawn from fuel tank
by a pipe and collected in a plastic container.
Not only Zakir Hossain, a good number of people are found throughout the capital selling the petrol stolen from cars. It is a booming business that does not need huge investment. A small table, plastic containers, a pipe, measuring cans, and a funnel -are all one needs for the business.
Mostly people driving cars of government offices sell petrol, said people living nearby Zakir's stall. That is the reason fewer cars are seen selling fuel on Friday, they added. "It is done especially in the weekday morning when empty cars are sent to pick up officers from home," said Nazre Murshed, who watches the stealing on his way to office. "Once or twice I nabbed some of them but
they start begging pardon swearing not to do it again," he noted.
The sellers buy the fuel from drivers at up to Tk 30 and normally sell at Tk 35, the same price as petrol pumps do. In most cases the consumers go for it only to meet emergency.
"Fuel tank of my autorickshaw has gone totally empty and there was no petrol pump nearby," said Akbar Ali, a CNG auto driver, explaining his being at the stall. Some other auto and cab drivers echoed him saying the number of petrol pumps in the capital is not enough to meet the demand.
However, there are drivers who strongly dislike buying fuel from this type of wayside stall because the quantity is always less than said. Moreover, they said the fuel is always adulter-
ated.
"They mix kerosene with it, which damages the car," said
Mohammed Hanif who drives a black cab. "The car does not run smoothly if that fuel is used," he added.