Nashik police bust illegal gas refill centre, arrest 4

Nashik: The city Crime Branch Unit-1, in a joint operation with the Bhadrakali police, arrested four men for illegally transferring LPG from domestic cylinders into commercial ones at a tin shed in Kutti Bazaar, Bhadrakali.The police seized articles worth Rs 3.1 lakh during the raid. The seized items included 33 domestic LPG cylinders, 13 commercial gas cylinders and two gas refilling machines. Two electric weighing scales and a three-wheeler were also seized.In view of the shortage of domestic and commercial gas, police commissioner Sandeep Karnik had issued guidelines to the incharge officials of all the police station and the crime branch to crack down on the illegal black marketing of gas cylinders.Acting on a tip-off received by constables Nazimkhan Pathan and Sandip Bhand, a team led by senior inspector Anchal Mudgal, of Crime Branch Unit-1, conducted the raid. During the raid, police nabbed four men using unauthorised machines to transfer LPG from domestic cylinders into commercial ones in a hazardous manner. The arrested men have been identified as Sandip Chavan (28), of Bhimwadi in Ganjmal, Asif Ahmed Sheikh (36), of Happy Home Colony, Anil Ghode (29), of Amrapali Road in Upnagar, and Santosh Patekar (28), also of Amrapali Road, Upnagar.Police said a case was registered by the Bhadrakali police station based on a complaint filed by constable Nazimkhan Pathan. The Bhadrakali police are conducting further investigations.The raid was carried out under the guidance of police commissioner Sandeep Karnik, DCP (crime) Kirankumar Chavan, and ACP Sandeep Mitke.