Rajkot: In a crackdown on black-marketing and unsafe handling of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the State Monitoring Cell (SMC), Gandhinagar, raided several residential premises and godowns across Rajkot and busted multiple illegal refilling operations.Seven people were arrested and more than 500 gas cylinders, along with specialised refilling equipment, collectively valued at over Rs 11.4 lakh, were seized.Two FIRs were registered at Bhaktinagar police station following coordinated raids conducted from late Thursday night to the early hours of Friday. Acting on specific intelligence, SMC teams raided locations in residential areas around Nehrunagar, Atika South and near Aahir Chowk on 80 Feet Road.According to the FIRs, the accused were allegedly transferring LPG from subsidised domestic cylinders into commercial and private-brand cylinders using electric motors and customised nozzles. The operations were being carried out without fire-safety equipment or statutory licences, posing a serious risk to residents in densely populated neighbourhoods.Police investigations revealed that domestic cylinders were allegedly procured at inflated prices through delivery personnel associated with local gas distributors. The gas was then transferred into commercial cylinders and sold at higher rates to street-food vendors and local transport operators.The accused allegedly stored the cylinders in residential premises and locked godowns and carried out refilling without adequate safety arrangements. Police also found that the units lacked municipal fire clearances, emergency water facilities, authorisation from the Explosives Department and GST registration.The accused include alleged operators, delivery personnel and individuals associated with gas agencies.The cases have been registered under relevant sections of the BNS, the Essential Commodities Act and the Explosives Act, besides provisions of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000, and the Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016.
