Man caught supplying underweight LPG cylinders

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 20

A high drama was witnessed in Panj Peer area on Hambran Road, when some consumers reportedly caught an employee of a local gas agency supplying them underweight LPG cylinders.

Area residents approached the District Food and Civil Supplies office, following which a team reached the spot and handed over the employee to the police.

According to sources, the incident took place when an employee of a local gas agency came to supply domestic LPG cylinders to some consumers in Panj Peer area on Hambran Road on Saturday. “A consumer noticed that the LPG cylinder appeared underweight, following which he asked the employee to weigh the cylinder. Initially, the employee refused on the pretext that he does not have the scale, but when the consumer insisted on getting the cylinder weighed from a nearby shop, he took out the scale from the van. When the cylinder was weighed, it was found underweight,” a source said.

Residents approached District Food Controller Rakesh Bhaskar, after which a team of DFCS reached the spot and weighed all cylinders. “There were total 33 LPG cylinders in the delivery van. When we weighed the cylinders, we found that only three were as per the fixed weight, while most of the cylinders were found underweight,” said Food Inspector Jaswinder Singh.

Following this, the DFCS officials handed over the gas agency employee to the police and recommended action against him. SHO at PAU police station Sumit Sood said the police have been investigating the matter and appropriate action would be taken against the persons found involved in the scam.

Later, a team led by Assistant Food Supply Officer (AFSO) Navneet Kaur also carried out a raid at the godown of the said gas agency. The team was conducting a check at the gas agency godown at the time of filing this report.

Bhaskar said no gas agency would be allowed to cheat people by supplying underweight LPG cylinders. He said the department has been keeping a complete vigil on gas agencies to make sure consumers are not cheated. He also appealed to the consumers to get LPG cylinders weighed before getting them delivered and asked them to approach the District Food Supplies Department in case they find any wrongdoing by the gas agencies.