The police seized inferior-quality petroleum products from a godown in Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode, on Tuesday. 18,000 litres of petroleum products, which were stored reportedly for distribution in the black market, from a godown at Changalaparambathu in Nechippoyil near Kunnamangalam on Tuesday evening. The police collected the samples with the help of the officials from Hindustan Petroleum.

Two people were arrested: Alathiyur native E Nisar (35) and his helper Rigil Madappeedika (35), from Thalassery, Kannur. The police said that a person named Ayyub Nambidiparambathu owned the godown. Products weighing 12,000 litres were kept in 12 cans of 1,000 litres capacity, and 6,000 litres were kept in a vehicle used for Hindustan Petroleum's door-to-door delivery. However, the police said that the products were not from HP.

"The HP officials have confirmed that the products were not from the company. The only thing was that a portion of the seized product was kept in a vehicle which had a tie-up with HP for their door-to-door delivery. Though it looks like diesel, the liquid doesn't have the density of diesel. For confirmation, we have to identify its components. For that, we will send the sample for a forensic test," said an official from the Kunnamangalam police station.

The police suspect that the products were intended to be used in fishing boats and other purposes. Kunnamangalam station Inspector S Kiran, Sub Inspectors Nitin, Jibisha(probationary SI) and Pradeep Kumar were part of the team. HP officials Nitin K Raman (Asst. Manager) and Nimal (Sales officer) assisted the police in collecting the samples of the seized products.