Police bust illegal LPG refilling racket

New Delhi: Delhi Police have uncovered a major illegal LPG storage operation in outer Delhi’s Mundka area, seizing more than 600 gas cylinders during a raid conducted by the Crime Branch. The action was carried out by the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Cell following a tip-off about large-scale illegal stockpiling of LPG cylinders at a warehouse.

Police officials said the raid was conducted at a warehouse linked to Guruji Indane Gas Service in Mundka. The agency is authorised to distribute only Indane cylinders, but investigators found cylinders belonging to multiple companies stored at the premises. During the operation, the team recovered a total of 610 cylinders, including 423 Indane cylinders, 92 Bharat Gas cylinders and 95 HP Gas cylinders. Among them were 197 filled cylinders and 392 empty ones, along with 21 smaller cylinders.

Preliminary investigation indicated irregularities in stock records. Officials found 133 filled commercial Indane cylinders stored at the warehouse, even though records from Indian Oil Corporation showed that the distributor should have had no such stock as of March 10. Authorities believe this points to possible illegal hoarding and manipulation of LPG supplies.

Officials from the Department of Food Supply and Consumer Affairs also participated in the raid and confirmed that keeping cylinders from other companies within the premises of an authorised Indane distributor violates LPG control regulations. Following the operation, police registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said illegal hoarding of LPG cylinders is often done to create artificial shortages in the market so that the cylinders can later be sold at inflated prices.

He added that such practices not only exploit consumers but also pose serious safety hazards due to improper storage of highly flammable materials.