At first it appeared to be just a road accident that took up horrific proportions as one of the vehicles involved was a large truck-tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Seven people, including the mega-sized tanker's driver, died after a pick-up vehicle crashed into the tanker in Mandiala on the Hoshiarpur–Jalandhar highway in Punjab last week.
But where was the tanker headed, and why? Police investigation has now revealed that at the heart of the incident lies a siphoning network.
Hoshiarpur district police chief Sandeep Kumar Malik told reporters that the tanker driver was heading to the house of a man named Sukhchain Singh, alias Sukha, of Ram Nagar Dheha, who was running an LPG siphoning racket in connivance with several tanker drivers.
Driver Sukhjeet Singh, who belonged to Khanna, died on the spot, as did another person, while 21 were injured. The death toll has since risen to seven.
How LPG siphoning racket worked
Police have arrested Sukhchain Singh, the alleged mastermind of the LPG theft racket, and seized 10 cylinders and a pipe from his cattle shed where they carried out their operation.
{{/usCountry}}Police have arrested Sukhchain Singh, the alleged mastermind of the LPG theft racket, and seized 10 cylinders and a pipe from his cattle shed where they carried out their operation.
{{/usCountry}}Three others — Avtar Singh alias Mati of Hoshiarpur, and brothers Ramesh Kumar and Raj Kumar of Jalandhar — were arrested, and a godown linked to them near Mandiala yielded 40 cylinders, nine empty oil drums and pipes. According to the police, Avtar Singh has multiple FIRs against him since 1999.
Investigators said they would siphon four to five cylinders worth of the liquefied gas from each tanker, and sell them in the unregulated market at ₹1,200–1,300 apiece after paying drivers ₹1,000 per cylinder, police said.
A case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Essential Commodities Act, and the LPG Supply and Control Order.
More compensation for victims promised
Hoshiarpur deputy commissioner Aashika Jain said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered, and the report should be in within 15 days.
A vigilance committee will also be set up to check LPG siphoning, officials said.
After the incident, to regulate the parking of heavy vehicles carrying hazardous material, the administration has also constituted vehicle regulation committees at the sub-divisional level, the DC said.
Several residents of Mandiala village, meanwhile, staged a two-hour dharna, blocking the Hoshiarpur–Jalandhar road, for higher compensation for victims.
They pointed out that families of victims in a hooch tragedy in Amritsar were given ₹10 lakh each, while kin of the Mandiala fire victims were initially offered only ₹2 lakh.
"Innocent people lost their lives here, yet their families are being treated unfairly. Those injured and people whose houses and shops were gutted also deserve proper compensation," a resident Harminder Singh said.
Minister Ravjot Singh later reached the protest site and assured them of ₹10 lakh each for the kin of those who died, and ₹5 lakh for those injured. He also promised compensation for property loss.