Pune: The North Chakan police on Tuesday arrested three men for illegally transferring LPG from a tanker to domestic cylinders.The police raided the spot at Bhose village near a gas plant of a petroleum company along the Chakan-Shikrapur road. The team found two local farmers and the tanker driver were illegally transferring LPG. The team seized the tanker and other equipment worth Rs 50 lakh.
The tanker driver Ambadas Gade (42) of Chembur in Mumbai and two local farmers, Akshay Mungse (25) and Navnath Hojage (34), were arrested.Senior inspector Jitendra Kadam of North Chakan police told TOI, “Major tragedy averted as the accused were transferring LPG from the tanker illegally without any safety measures.”The officer said in the early hours of Tuesday, police constable Bhairoba Yadav received a tip-off that illegal LPG transfer was going on near the gas plant at Bhose village. “Our team reached the spot and found that the accused had broken the valve of the tanker to transfer the gas into cylinders. This illegal transfer was going on near a petrol station located next to the gas plant,” the officer said.He said the team first managed to close the tanker’s valve safely. They recovered a tanker, two domestic LPG cylinders, equipment used for transferring the gas and a two-wheeler from the spot. “Prima facie investigations revealed that the accused were refilling the cylinders to sell at high price in the market. Our investigations are on,” he said.On May 19, 2024, a massive tanker explosion took place at Mohitewadi along the Chakan-Shikrapur road during an illegal LPG transfer. Three heavy vehicles, several two-wheelers and houses were damaged in the explosion.
