Three held for illegal LPG refilling racket in Narsingi; large haul seized

Three arrested in Narsingi for illegal LPG refilling; large quantities of gas cylinders and equipment seized during police raid.

Three persons, including a godown owner, were arrested by the Narsingi police for running an illegal Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) decanting and refilling operation in Gandhamguda village on the city outskirts.

The accused have been identified as Deepesh Singh, the owner of the premises, along with two labourers, Shaik Faqruddin and T. Naresh. Police said the trio was involved in decanting domestic LPG cylinders and refilling the gas into commercial and smaller cylinders for sale in the black market.

The arrests followed a complaint received on March 17 from V. Ramakrishna, an enforcement official with the Civil Supplies Department, Rangareddy district. Officials from the Narsingi police conducted a raid at around 10 a.m. at a godown in Gandhamguda, under Bandlaguda Municipality in Gandipet mandal.

During the inspection, officials found that domestic cylinders were being illegally refilled into commercial cylinders and small two kilogram and five kilogram units in unsafe conditions, posing a serious threat to public safety.

A substantial quantity of material used in the operation was seized, including 34 domestic HP filled cylinders, 62 domestic HP empty cylinders, 58 commercial HP empty cylinders, 50 small cylinders, four refilling pipes, two weighing machines and 80 refilling nozzles.

The seized stock was handed over to HP gas agency in Hydershakote for safe custody. A case has been registered and further investigation is under way.