T’puram: Amid the ongoing shortage of commercial cooking gas in the state, a gas cylinder was reportedly stolen from a hotel in the Chalai area on Friday, raising concern among hotel owners already struggling to cope with the crisis. According to police, the theft occurred around 4am, when an unidentified man allegedly entered the premises of S R Hotel and walked away with a commercial LPG cylinder. The incident was captured on a nearby CCTV camera. Fort police registered a case began a probe. Hotel employees said the cylinder was kept outside the kitchen area. When staff arrived for work later in the morning, they noticed that the cylinder was missing and informed police. Following the complaint, a search was launched to identify and apprehend the suspect. The incident triggered anxiety among hotel owners in the city. Many eateries in Thiruvananthapuram faced severe shortage of cooking gas over the past few days, forcing some establishments to cut down their menus or operate with limited capacity. Hotel owners said the scarcity made cylinders extremely valuable, increasing the risk of theft. “It is not easy to procure LPG cylinders now. Losing even one cylinder can seriously affect our daily operations,” a hotel employee said. Meanwhile, hotel owners urged authorities to restore a regular supply of commercial LPG cylinders and strengthen security measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
