Hyderabad Police Arrest 10 in Illegal LPG Racket

Hyderabad police arrested 10 individuals, including a gas agency operator, on March 30 for running an illegal racket involving the storage and black-market sale of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders at inflated prices in the city's Banjara Hills area.

The operation, conducted by the Commissioners Task Force Jubilee Hills Zone in coordination with Banjara Hills police, targeted a site near a graveyard along Nagarjuna X Road. Officials acted on credible intelligence and caught the group red-handed while they were allegedly dumping cylinders at the location in violation of safety regulations. The raid uncovered 414 cylinders of various sizes, including 30 full 47-kg units, 148 full 19-kg units, 192 empty 19-kg units, 35 full 5-kg units, and nine empty 5-kg units. The total value of the seized cylinders was estimated at Rs 21.88 lakh. Authorities also confiscated 11 vehicles used for transportation, comprising two DCM trucks, two Bolero vehicles, and seven smaller commercial vehicles such as Tata Ace, Tata Intra, and autorickshaws.

The prime suspect, 42-year-old Mohd Aamir, operated Metro Gas Agency, an authorized Hindustan Petroleum distributor in Shamshabad with an additional...