Police bust LPG black marketing racket

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 20

The police today claimed to have unearthed a racket of black marketing of LPG cylinders with the seizure of 42 domestic and 10 commercial LPG cylinders of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd loaded on a mini truck. The driver, identified as Prithvi Raj, a resident of Asni Khadda in Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, at present resides near the petrol station on Kohara Road, Sahnewal.

The police said a team of crime branch-2 had conducted a raid on the basis of a tip-off and nabbed the suspect with the mini truck laden with LPG cylinders on the road leading to Neechi Mangli village. The suspect has been booked under section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act. The police took into its custody the LPG cylinders and the mini truck.

During preliminary interrogation, the suspect confessed that he purchased domestic LPG cylinders at cheaper rates in connivance with employees of a gas distributor and sold them at higher rates. He was also involved in filling LPG from commercial cylinders into smaller and domestic cylinders. Further investigation was in progress.