A huge amount of unrefined oil spilled in a large area of paddy fields at Lakshmanaband of Golapganj upazila yesterday due to suspected swiping of oil from a leaked condensate pipeline.

The authorities of

Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) later sealed two of its valve stations as huge condensate spilled through a point near a hillock at Lakshmanaband.

The national oil company Petrobangla has a 178-kilometre pipeline for transporting condensate from the Kailashtila Gas field of Sylhet to Ashuganj. The condensate is a by-product of the gas field.

Visiting the spot. Deputy Manager of GTCL (Sylhet) Abdul Ahad said some unscrupulous people might have attempted to steal the condensate from the pipeline by perforating it and caused the spilling.

Enthusiastic locals of neighbouring villages rushed to the area and started collecting raw fuel in containers, noted witnesses.

The condensate leaked through the pipe since early yesterday, Nosirul Haque Shahin, chairman of Lakshmanaband Union Parishad told The Daily Star.

He could not stop the villagers from collecting the oil, mentioned Nosirul adding, he sent a team with loudspeakers to warn people about the huge risk of collecting it this way.

According to him, the condensate has already spread over a hundred acres of paddy fields.

Several organised gangs used to steal condensate from the pipeline at different points in the hills of Habiganj, Moulvibazar and in Ashuganj in the past. But this happened for the first time in Golapganj, pointed out Abdul Ahad.

A technical team will visit the spot to take further protective measures, he added.