People with containers line up to collect petrol from a tanker that went off the Asian Highway 48 and fell on the side on the outskirts of Dhupguri police station of Jalpaiguri district on Saturday.

As petrol started leaking from the tanker, people started rushing to the spot with jerry cans, buckets and even pitchers to collect whatever petrol they could till the police dispersed them.

But despite police vigilance, whenever people got the chance, they came back for the “free fuel”, which costs over Rs 90 a litre now in the market.

Police chased the crowd with batons a number of times to clear the area and prevent the probability of a blaze.

Sources said the oil tanker was heading towards Birpara from Siliguri along AH48. Around noon, as it neared the Sonakhali forest of Dhupguri, the driver lost control of the tanker that fell into a ditch.

The driver fled, while cleaner Paresh Roy received minor injuries.

The police also called in a fire engine and a recovery van to the spot and readied foam spray as precaution against fire.

By afternoon, the recovery van pulled out the tanker from the ditch and towed it away. The driver has not been traced.