State ministry director Azman Ismail said the 29-year-old man was arrested at 9pm by a team conducting surveillance at the station.

He said the man made the purchase of diesel a few hours after the government’s announcement on the implementation of the unsubsidised diesel price of RM3.35 a litre.

“The ministry found that the contractor came to the petrol station using a Toyota Hilux four-wheel drive vehicle,” he told reporters after monitoring petrol stations in Pasir Pekan here at midnight last night.

Azman said the ministry also seized 15 containers brought by the man. Six of them had been filled with diesel with each barrel containing 25 litres.

An investigation found that the diesel was bought for agricultural activities. The case is being investigated in accordance with the Control of Supplies Act 1961.

The ministry also confiscated documents from the station for imposing a maximum diesel purchase of RM100 per vehicle under the excuse of having an insufficient supply of the fuel.