The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Police seize ‘diverted’ LPG cylinders

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Thursday, Jul 31, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Police seize ‘diverted’ LPG cylinders

Staff Reporter

Two arrested; LPG meant for domestic consumption used as fuel for vehicles

Cylinders were procured from deliverymen of LPG distributors
Illegal gas filling stations pose fire hazard to neighbourhood

Thiruvananthapuram: The police on Wednesday seized 55 liquid petroleum gas cylinders marked for domestic consumption from two illegal liquid petroleum gas filling stations at Kalady and Kalladimugham in the city.

Two persons, Subash and Sreekantan, were arrested in connection with the racket. Circle Inspector, Fort, B. Harikumar said the suspects sold subsidised cooking gas as fuel to motorists.

They used a motorised pump with a specialised nozzle to inject cooking gas into the reservoirs of cars, two-wheelers and autorickshaws modified to run on LPG.

The police also found weighing scales used by the suspects to determine the amount of gas retailed.

Profit of Rs.10,000

The police said the suspects earned a profit of more than Rs.10,000 a day. The illegal gas filling stations posed a major fire hazard to the neighbourhood.

The police have booked the suspects on the charge of violating the Explosives Act, the Essential Commodities Act and provisions of the Liquid Petroleum Gas (Regulation, Supply and Distribution) Ordinance, 2000.

They were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The police said the suspects had procured the bulk of the gas cylinders from deliverymen of certain LPG distributors in the city.

Records tampered

The deliverymen had tampered with distribution records to illegally divert cooking gas to the suspects. Bharath Gas, Indane and Sooraj brand cylinders were seized.

Middlemen

Official sources said black marketers used a well entrenched network of middlemen to source LPG cylinders from lower middle class domestic consumers who depended more on firewood and kerosene.

They paid the consumers up to Rs.500 for a “domestic” LPG cylinder weighing 14.2 kg and costing Rs.353.

Using a tiny apparatus, the black marketers transferred the subsidised gas into cylinders meant for commercial sale.

(An LPG cylinder marked for commercial consumption weighs 19 kg and is priced at Rs.1,180.)

Commercial cylinders filled with subsidised gas are sold to hotels and restaurants for Rs.900 and less.

This new method of operation has made it difficult for government enforcers to detect the illegal diversion of “domestic” LPG cylinders.

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