New Delhi: A 28-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly running an illegal LPG cylinder supply operation in southeast Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. Police seized 62 cylinders and a mini truck used for transportation. The accused, Shahnawaz, was apprehended on Monday during routine patrolling near Yamuna Pusta after a police team spotted him beside a mini truck loaded with cylinders. He failed to produce any licence or authorisation for storing or selling LPG, police said. DCP (southeast) Hemant Tiwari said the vehicle contained 48 filled and 14 empty cylinders. “Preliminary inquiry revealed he was selling cylinders to residents without issuing receipts or maintaining documentation, violating norms governing essential commodities,” he said. During questioning, Shahnawaz told police he procured the cylinders through an associate, Mukesh, who arranged them from near a gas agency in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The cylinders were reportedly brought to Delhi in a pickup vehicle before being shifted to the mini truck for local distribution. Investigators said Shahnawaz had transported around 70 cylinders from Uttar Pradesh a day before his arrest and had already sold several in Jamia Nagar at inflated rates. A case has been registered under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police are now trying to trace co-accused Mukesh and are probing the larger supply chain behind the illegal trade.
