Gurugram Police arrest man after seizure of 104 LPG cylinders

Police said the accused planned to buy cylinders across the state border at lower rates and sell them at inflated prices in Nawada and nearby industrial areas.

A man was arrested on suspicion of running an illegal LPG cylinder smuggling racket after Gurugram Police seized 104 domestic LPG cylinders from a pickup truck in Nawada village early on Sunday, officials said on Tuesday.

The cylinders were found in a pickup truck in Nawada village. Police said the vehicle owner allegedly lacked valid gas agency documents or licences. (File photo)

The operation was carried out by the Sector 65 Crime Branch, which was investigating an interstate domestic gas cylinder smuggling racket. Police said the vehicle owner has been arrested, while a manhunt has been launched for the driver who fled the spot.

The raid followed a tip-off received by a night patrol team on the intervening nights of September 19 and 20. Police spotted the pickup parked outside a residence in Nawada. As the team approached, two suspects abandoned the vehicle, leaving the keys in the ignition, and fled, police said.

Police recovered 84 Bharat Gas and 20 Indane 14-kg domestic LPG cylinders from the vehicle. Investigators found it was registered to a firm owned by a Nawada resident and his brother. Police summoned the suspect to the spot alongside Gurugram Assistant Food and Supplies Officer (AFSO) Manoj Kumar. During questioning, the suspect admitted the cylinders belonged to him and allegedly confessed to running a black-market operation.

An FIR was registered on Monday at Kherki Daula police station under sections 7 (penalty for violation of the Act), 10 (vicarious corporate liability) of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 61(2) (criminal cospiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).