Ramar Pillai, who became famous or rather infamous after claiming to have developed an herbal alternative to petrol, was recently been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by a Chennai court. Back in the year 1996, Ramar had claimed to have invented the herbal alternative which was later rubbished by the IITM and the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.
Also Read: Prices of Petrol and Diesel go up by INR 1.34 and INR 2.37 respectively
Ramar still went ahead and opened a number of retail outlets under the brand ‘Ramar Bio Fuel’ and sold the herbal alternative at about Rs. 10 and Rs. 15 per litre at a time when petrol was sold at Rs. 35 per litre. The sales were followed by several complaints after which the accused was arrested by the CBI in 2000.
Roughly a decade later, the accused returned as Ponnupillai Ramar with the company now bearing the name ‘Velar Bio Hydrocarbon Fuel’. Due to his earlier accusations, his new claims didn’t attract any attention even as the case dragged on in the court. On Wednesday, the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Egmore, convicted Pillai and his associates and sentenced them with 3 years RI and a total fine amounting to the tune of Rs. 20,000.
Source: Times Of India