Ghaziabad gas agency finds over 3,000 cylinders ‘missing’, role of employee suspected

The gas agency officials said that proper records of refilled cylinders received and empty cylinders collected from households were duly kept by the godown keeper. The officials have estimated the loss of nearly ₹30.43 lakh on account of the ‘missing’ LPG cylinders, each weighing 14.2kg.

Officials of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution agency in Site-IV Sahibabad Industrial Area have lodged an FIR for cheating and criminal breach of trust against one of its employees and his family members after 3,248 cylinders were found ‘missing’ from the records. An FIR has been registered at Link Road police station against four persons.

It is alleged that lesser number of cylinders were shown in records as compared to the actual number received from the bottling plant. (HT Photo)

The gas agency officials said that proper records of refilled cylinders received and empty cylinders collected from households were duly kept by the godown keeper. The officials have estimated the loss of nearly ₹30.43 lakh on account of the ‘missing’ LPG cylinders, each weighing 14.2kg.

“For the past two years, storekeeper Raj Kishor Sinha had been keeping his family at the store and his son helps maintain records. It was in November last year when he was not available and the manager complained that there was some mismatch in the records of cylinders received from the bottling plants and the numbers which were shown in the store,” the police complaint said.

It is alleged in the complaint that the actual number of cylinders received from the bottling plant was shown less in godown records on different dates during the months of April, June, July, August and September last year. The officials alleged that the fudging of records took place during the period from April to October last year and a checking of records is going on to find out more such instances.

It is alleged that lesser number of cylinders were shown in records as compared to the actual number received from the bottling plant.

Based on the complaint, the Link Road police registered an FIR under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using genuine as forged) against Raj Kishor Sinha and three of his family members.

“The FIR was registered after the officials of the agency approached senior superintendent of police. It relates to fudging of records and missing LPG cylinders. We have not arrested anyone so far but we are conducting a detailed investigation with the help of records maintained at the agency,” Shlok Kumar, superintendent of police (city), said.