Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday sought swift action from Maharashtra authorities after an IndianOil officer was brutally attacked while carrying out inspection at a petrol pump in Hingoli district.

Puri said Mahesh Shelke, Manager (Retail Sales), IndianOil, was part of a team carrying out the takeover of an IndianOil retail outlet when he was attacked with a sharp weapon. The incident recalls the 2005 killing of S Manjunath, a 27-year-old IOC sales officer who was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, after inspecting a petrol pump where irregularities had been detected.

According to the Supreme Court record, IOC had suspended sales and supplies at the outlet following Manjunath’s inspection, and he returned to inspect the pump again on November 19, 2005, the day before his body was found. “The issue of the stabbing of Shelke has been taken up with the senior-most officials of the Maharashtra government and police to ensure swift and strict action against those responsible, in accordance with law,” Puri said in a post on X.

He condemned the incident calling it as a “heinous and unacceptable act of violence” and said the petroleum ministry and IndianOil would extend all possible support to Shelke’s family. IndianOil Chairman A S Sahney also said that the company had also taken up the matter with the highest authorities in Maharashtra, seeking swift and stringent action against those responsible.