New Delhi, March 18 The Delhi Police on Wednesday busted multiple illegal LPG storage and refilling units across the city, seizing a total of 269 cylinders and apprehending six persons in separate operations, an official said.
In south Delhi's Rajpur Khurd, police unearthed an illegal LPG storage unit, arresting two persons and seizing 223 cylinders from the premises.
The accused, identified as Hitesh Rathi (38) and Arvind Kumar (40), were allegedly operating the facility without a valid license or authorisation, they said.
Police raided a plot in Rajpur Khurd village on Tuesday and recovered 223 Indane LPG cylinders, including 16 filled and 45 empty domestic cylinders, and 162 empty commercial cylinders, officials said.
An electronic weighing machine and eight safety caps were also seized. Police said the stockpiling of such a large number of cylinders without safety measures posed a serious risk to nearby residents.
The accused failed to produce valid documents for storing the cylinders. Officials from the food and supplies department and Indane Gas verified the seizure, police said.
In a separate operation, police busted three illegal LPG storage and refilling units in Khyala area and apprehended four persons, recovering 46 cylinders.
The accused have been identified as Shivmurat Singh (40), Raghuraj (26), Arvind Singh (27) and Ompal (37), police said.
A total of 46 cylinders, including 20 of Indane Gas and 26 of Bharat Gas, were seized from the rented premises and temporary sheds. Weighing machines and illegal refilling equipment were also recovered, officials said.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they procured LPG cylinders using fake identities and stored them in congested areas to avoid detection. They allegedly extracted gas from filled cylinders and refilled empty ones to create additional cylinders for sale in the black market at inflated prices of up to Rs 3,000 per cylinder, police said.
Police suspect the possible involvement of gas agency personnel, as the accused claimed to have sourced cylinders from local agencies. The role of these agencies is being examined.
Separate cases have been registered under the Essential Commodities Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and further investigation is underway.