Published On : Wed, Aug 4th, 2021

2 held for black-marketing of LPG cylinders

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Nagpur: Nandanvan Police on Monday arrested two persons, including a former employee of a gas agency, for stealing and blackmarketing LPG cylinders. So far cops have recovered ten stolen cylinders from their possession. The accused have been identified as Shailesh Rohiniprasad Mishra (33), a resident of Plot No 10, Ved Nagar, Jaripatka, and Gajendra alias Golu Hari Rana (32), a resident of Plot No 87, Arya Nagar Nagar. On Monday, Prabhakar Sukhdeorao Bawankule (44), a resident of Prabhu Nagar, Hasanbag Chowk, who works with Vidarbha Gas & Domestic Appliances, Ganesh Nagar, loaded 21 cylinders in his Mahindra Alfa vehicle (MH49/D-6757) to deliver them to customers.

Around 10.30 am, he parked his vehicle near Kashi Apartment on the roadside and unloaded a cylinder to deliver it to a consumer. After 10 minutes, he returned with an empty cylinder. While loading it in his vehicle, he was shocked to find two cylinders stolen. He lodged a complaint with the police immediately. On the basis of Bawankule’s complaint, police registered a case under Sections 379 and 411 of the Indian Penal Code and started the probe.

Cops first took accused Mishra into custody on suspicion as he was earlier arrested in similar theft cases. During questioning, Mishra spilled the beans and confessed to stealing the two cylinders from Bawankule’s vehicle. Mishra, who earlier used to work as an employee with a LPG dealer, told police that he had kept the cylinders at Gajendra Rana’s shop. He and Rana were selling the cylinders at higher rates to needy customers.

Subsequently, police raided Rana’s shop and recovered as many as 10 stolen cylinders. Cops arrested Bawankule and Rana immediately. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were addicted to gambling. They used to play‘satta’ by selling the stolen cylinders. Possibility of their involvement in several other similar crimes cannot be ruled out.

The arrests were made by HC Siddharth Patil, NPC Sandeep Gawli, NPC Bhimrao Thombre, and others under the supervision of DCP (Zone-IV ) Dr Akshay Shinde, ACP Dr Nilesh Palve, and Senior PI Mukhtar Sheikh.