Vadodara: The special operations group (SOG) of city police seized 42 LPG cylinders from the Khodiyarnagar area on Thursday. Twelve of these were empty and were lying unclaimed in the locality. Acting on a tip-off that LPG cylinders were being refilled illegally, SOG sleuths raided a house in the area. The operation was allegedly run by Shardul Bharwad, driver of a three-wheeled goods carrier used by a Harni gas agency to supply domestic cylinders. Police said Bharwad took the goods carrier to his house in Bharwadvas and used LPG from domestic cylinders to fill commercial cylinders, that were then sold on the black market. Thirty cylinders were found in his house — 26 domestic and four commercial — all filled with gas. Bharwad had left the agency with 25 domestic cylinders on Saturday morning. He was to draw gas from these to fill four commercial and one domestic cylinder at his residence. He was caught in the act, along with equipment used to transfer gas, seals and caps, and other material. Police also recovered 12 empty cylinders lying unclaimed in Khodiyarnagar. Police said these have not yet been linked to Bharwad’s refilling racket. An offence has been registered against him at Harni police station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Essential Commodities Act.
