Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Collector issues summons to suspects

Thiruvananthapuram: The District Collector has summoned two persons for hearing under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act in connection with the Civil Supplies Department raid on an illegal gas-filling station at a house in Vikas Lane near Kunnukuzhy last month.

Mr. Sanjay Kaul summoned the resident of the house George, 72, and his help, Gopakumar, 50, to present themselves before him on July 30 and state why they should not be prosecuted under the provisions of the EC Act.

On July 10, a team led by District Supply Officer K. Radhakrishnan and Hindustan Petroleum Deputy Manager (Sales) U. Rajan raided the house of the late Helena Davis and confiscated eight cooking cylinders marked for domestic consumption.

They found that subsidised cooking gas was being sold as fuel to motorists at the illegal filling station. The racketeers used a motorised pump with a specialised nozzle to inject the cooking gas into the reservoirs of vehicles modified to run on LPG. The officials also found a weighing scale used by the racketeers to determine the amount of gas they retailed.

Investigators at the District Supply Office said one Gopakumar, who works for Mr. George, had owned up the crime. However, officials are not taking his statement at face value. They suspect him to be a front man for the behind-the-scene racketeers. They are investigating Mr. George’s close relative and a doctor working for a private hospital in connection with the racket.

The illegal gas station functioned from a wooded plot at the end of a steep driveway that ascends from Vikas Lane. It is difficult to sight the house from the road below. Near the house is a workshop which modifies vehicles to run on LPG. The workshop owner will also be investigated in connection with the crime, officials said.

The illegal fuel outlet also posed a fire safety hazard to the entire neighbourhood. The inspectors confiscated an LPG-fitted van, which was found parked in front of the house. A Transport Department official said the vehicle did not have government authorisation to use LPG as fuel.

The government suspects that the cooking gas cylinders were sourced from some errant LPG distributors in the district. Intelligence collected by Mr. Rajan resulted in the raid. The police will investigate the case if the Collector decides to prosecute the suspects under the provisions of the EC Act and the Liquid Petroleum Gas (Regulation, Supply and Distribution) Rules 2000.

The District Supply Office is collecting intelligence on LPG black marketeers.

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