IIM-grad's colleagues to pay off his loan

New Delhi: It is Indian Oil Corporation?s (IOC) way of paying its last respects to whistleblower S Manjunath, who died in the line of duty.

Manjunath, who was killed by the oil mafia when he had threatened to shut down a petrol station selling adulterated fuel, was an IIM student and he had taken a student loan to meet his education expense.

Manjunath’s untimely death has left behind a pending education loan of Rs 3.5 lakh which his parents cannot afford to pay back.

However his extended family at IOC has come the family’s rescue. Manjunath’s colleagues are raising money to pay off the debt and also to help the family.

President IOC Officers Association, Anurag Misra, says, “All officers all across the Pipeline Marketing and R&D Refinery division have put together a sum of Rs 15 lakhs which will be given to Manjunath?s family to pay off the loan and as an investment for their future.”

Though Manjunath’s case is an extreme one, IOC officers say that there have been times when sales officers have had to conduct inspections at gun point and run for their lives with the samples.

“A shoot out case had happened in Pathankot, but that dealership was eventually terminated. However a fear psychosis has set in among the officers,” says Misra.

However what is more shocking is that despite all the risks taken by IOC officers, 80 per cent of the petrol pumps, which were shut down for selling adulterated petrol, have reopened because of political pressure.

Now IOC officers wonder how many Manjunaths it will take for the government to sit up, take notice and take action.