Police begin crackdown on black marketing of LPG in Delhi, man arrested in swoop on illegal filling hub in Shakarpur

A 46-year-old man was apprehended by police for allegedly running an illegal LPG refilling operation and indulging in the black marketing of domestic gas cylinders in the Shakarpur area of East Delhi, a senior police officer said on Monday (March 16).

Delhiand the NCR cities are facing a severe shortage of LPG because of supply constraints resulting from the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has resulted in the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital sea lane through which India and many other countries get their imports of LPG and LNG.

The government has been saying that panic booking, hoarding, and black marketing of cooking gas is exacerbating the crisis, which has hit the poor and those without permanent addresses or piped gas connections the hardest.

According to the police officer, information was received on Sunday from a member of the public regarding illegal refilling of LPG cylinders at a shop in Shakarpur.

The information was recorded through a Daily Diary (DD) entry at the Shakarpur police station, and a team was constituted under the leadership of the Station House Officer (SHO) to investigate.

Refilling of cylinders is illegal because of the dangers of handling the highly combustible gas, and because of the price differential between domestic and commercial cylinders, which creates scope for profiteering and black marketing of LPG.

The police team, which included Head Constable Anurag and other police personnel, conducted a raid at the suspected shop in Shakarpur.

During the operation, a person present at the premises identified himself as Yogesh Gupta, a resident of Shakarpur, aged about 46 years, police said.

“During questioning, Gupta admitted that he had been refilling LPG gas from large domestic cylinders into smaller cylinders at his shop for the past few days.

He also disclosed that he had refilled gas in smaller cylinders two to three days prior to the raid,” the police officer said.

According to the police, the accused man had admitted that he did not have the licence or authorisation to carry out such activities, and had been operating without taking adequate safety measures.

During the search of the premises, police allegedly recovered two domestic LPG cylinders of 14.2 kg each, three smaller domestic gas cylinders of 5 kg each, a pipe that is used to transfer gas and is commonly known as “totapilas”, an LPG refilling machine, and a weighing machine.

Police officers said that the recovered articles indicated that the accused was illegally transferring LPG gas from larger cylinders into smaller ones for unauthorised sale.

Such activities not only amount to black marketing of essential commodities but also pose a serious threat to public safety due to the risk of gas leaks and explosions, the officers said.

Over the past week, complaints have mounted over the cost of gas “per kg” rising sharply in the black market.

Slum dwellers, street vendors such as momos and chat stall owners, owners of small eateries such as roadside dhabas, tea-stall owners, etc.

typically buy LPG by the kilo from unauthorised sellers and dealers of gas.

Police said the accused in Shakarpur was using his shop to carry out the illegal refilling operation without any safety precautions.

Based on the findings of the raid, a case has been registered under Section 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, along with Sections 287 (Negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 318(4) (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Shakarpur police station.

Section 3 of the Essentials Act deals with the “Powers to control production, supply, distribution, etc., of essential commodities”.

Section 7 prescribes the punishment for violations of the provisions of Section 3.

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