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Two held for operating illegal LPG station

Rajesh Nair

Domestic gas diverted for trade use

PONDICHERRY: Two people have been arrested for operating an illegal LPG filling station by diverting domestic cylinders for filling empty commercial cylinders and selling it at cheap to hotels and tea-shops.

Based on a tip-off, detectives from the Food Cell Department raided a house in Govinda Salai on Monday and found the two accused - Anandharaj and Alexander - diverting domestic gas to commercial cylinders.

However, the kingpin in the racket, `Cylinder' Mohan, escaped and a search has been launched to trace him.

Anandharaj, a delivery boy for a gas agency, and Alexander are brothers and were working for Mohan for the last three months in running the `illegal agency'. Explaining the modus operandi, N. Ramachandiran, S.P. Food Cell, said Anandharaj would re-route the domestic cylinders meant for consumers and transfer the gas to empty commercial cylinders using a high-pressure valve. "He re-routed the cylinders by forging the signature of the consumer on the delivery coupon. Sometimes, when the consumer happened to be away after booking, such cylinders were also used for illegal operations," the S.P. said.

"While the original price for a 17 kg commercial cylinder is more than Rs. 700, the trio sold it for Rs. 600 to Rs. 650.

To fill a 17 kg cylinder a full domestic cylinder (14.5 kg), which comes for Rs. 265 was needed along with a little gas from another domestic cylinder. They made a profit of around Rs. 300 from each sale," Mr. Ramachandiran said.

The duo was operating from a thatched house and any leak could have had disastrous consequences.

The police also seized from the house 15 empty domestic cylinders, 6 empty commercial cylinders, 10 full domestic cylinders, regulators and a weighing machine.

The police have requested consumers to inform the gas agency directly if the cylinder is not delivered, and asked agencies to keep a close watch on their employees to prevent manipulation.

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