2 injured in cylinder blast in Mohali village
Police said that Kumar illegally stored over 50 cylinders posing risk to the lives of the residents in the densely populated area having narrow lanes.
Two persons, including a woman, were injured after a cylinder exploded due to gas leak in a godown located in busy Kamla market of Mohali village on Tuesday.
Phase-1 police booked three persons, the owner of the building Amarjit Singh of Sunny Enclave, Jatinder Kumar, an Uttar Pradesh native who is using his godown on rent to illegally store cylinders besides an employee of Kumar.
Police said that Kumar illegally stored over 50 cylinders posing risk to the lives of the residents in the densely populated area having narrow lanes.
The blast occurred around 12 pm when Sagar, an employee of Kumar, was shifting gas from a bigger cylinder to a 5 litre cylinder.
“We are yet to recover the cylinder in which the blast occurred as the accused are on the run. Sagar, who also got injured in the incident, tilted the cylinder towards the gate. When the gas leaked, the iron gate fell 70-feet away and hit a woman customer standing outside a shop located on the opposite side. The woman received injuries on her face and was rushed to the local civil hospital from where she was discharged post treatment,” an investigator said.
Scores of residents gathered at the spot who alleged that despite several requests to the authorities concerned, the administration did not take action against illegal shops.
“The blast occurred as more gas was pumped in than capacity. We requested the owner of the building to remove these cylinders, but to no avail. Even the administration did not take any action. Around 30-40 trucks of various gas agencies come here daily to illegally give cylinders to Jatinder Kumar, who has been residing here for the past 10 years. There are over 10 such shops in the area,” Raj Kumar, a shopkeeper said.
Meanwhile, the phase-1 police have booked the absconding accused under sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 288 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 125(2) (act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) of the BNS and under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities (EC) Act.