Police have seized 414 cooking-gas canisters hidden in a graveyard in Hyderabad city and arrested those involved in trying to sell them on the black market amid shortages due to the Iran conflict, a government official said on Thursday.
Authorities have stepped up raids to curb hoarding of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters after the US-Israeli strikes against Iran disrupted shipping, causing supply shortages.
India, the world’s No. 2 LPG importer, meets about 60% of its demand through overseas purchases, mostly from the Middle East.
“Just yesterday, around 2,600 raids were carried out and about 700 cylinders were seized,” Sujata Sharma, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said.
“In addition, around 400 cylinders were recently found at one location inside a graveyard in Hyderabad.
“Ten people have been detained there, and the distributor involved has been suspended,” she added.
Police said the accused had been selling both commercial and domestic canisters from the graveyard at nearly three times the current market price.
A commercial canister that costs about 2,100 rupees (RM90) had been sold for as much as 6,000 rupees (RM260). — Reuters
