Nine police personnel suspended after 43 LPG cylinders go missing; Investigation into illegal storage deepens

Daltonganj: Nine police personnel were suspended for negligence in duty on Monday after it emerged that 43 LPG cylinders reportedly went missing from a stockyard where an explosion injured four people a day earlier.

Among those suspended included two assistant sub-inspectors, one havildar, and six constables. They were suspended by Palamu SP Reeshma Rameshan.




A LPG cylinder exploded in a basement of a house near Bairya More on Sunday. The facility, which was being used to allegedly stock LPG cylinders illegally, had 61 cylinders at the time of the blast. “But today, 43 were found missing as police began probe into Sunday’s cylinder blast incident case at the mishap site,” said SP.

While the facility was not sealed after the blast, two police personnel guarded it through the night. The disappearance of cylinders could be a plan to weaken the case against the agency/distributor, said sources. The agency is of Indane company and is in the name of Ajay Kumar Sah of Kutmu village under the Pandu police station limits.

Soon after the incident, district supply officer Preeti Kisko wrote letters to the regional managers of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Indane Divisional Office in this regard seeking suspension of the concerned agency. The letters were written following a directive by deputy commissioner Sameera S.

"During the period of suspension of the agency, its 1,834 consumers will be tagged to the nearest distributor," said DC.

The gas agency, namely Kutmu Indane gas/Ajay Kumar Sah respectively, are accused of multiple violations. This man had licence of Kutmu delivery under Pandu block. But he had a storage and delivery in the town Daltonganj, which is a gross violation of all the provisions of safety," she said.

The DC said a quick response team has been formed in Palamu to keep track of the supply and demand chain of the filled LPG cylinders.

DC also held a meeting with all distributors today and directed them to maintain OTPs after delivery of cylinders, no gas outlet should remain closed during working hours among others. As of today, there were 12,825 cylinders available in Palamu. Officials said that the situation is entirely under control amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

There are 41 gas agencies in the district. “The number of domestic consumers and PM Ujjawala Yojna consumers is 2,11,515 and 2,72,861 respectively," informed the additional collector Kundan Kumar.