Ahmedabad Crime Branch busts illegal gas refilling racket, two arrested

The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Monday arrested two men in the Danilimda area for allegedly running an illegal racket of diverting domestic LPG cylinders under the Prime Minister’s Ujjwala Scheme for commercial use. Police said 65 cylinders, valued at ₹1.57 lakh, along with equipment worth another ₹2.68 lakh, were seized from the spot.

According to officials, the accused have been identified as Jagdish Babubhai Makwana (29), a labourer residing in Behrampura, and Ganpat Kalabhai Parmar, also from Behrampura. Both were allegedly operating from a house in Chamunda Nagar’s Chali, near Khodiyarnagar.

Police said the duo had been refilling gas from domestic LPG cylinders into commercial cylinders without any licence or authorisation. “They purchased cylinders issued under the Ujjwala scheme from the grey market, illegally transferred the gas into commercial bottles and then sold them to local traders at inflated rates. This posed a serious risk of fire or explosion as the activity was carried out in a congested residential area, without safety measures,” an officer said.

During the raid, officers recovered 65 filled and empty cylinders of different companies, along with equipment used in the illegal transfer. The total seizure was valued at over ₹4.25 lakh.

A case has been registered at the DCB police station under Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Police said investigations are underway to identify the supply chain and the buyers of the diverted cylinders.