Spate of cylinder thefts leaves Nagpur cops guessing

Of late, the police too are insisting upon such a step considering that they have been receiving complaints of cylinder thefts by individuals, impersonating as authorised mechanics or delivery boys and offering services on one pretext or the other.

The most commonly used ploy is to approach the targeted victim and sound an "alert" that the cylinder delivered at the house is `leaking’ and needs to be changed. By glib-talking, the `leaking’ cylinder is taken away with an assurance that a replacement would be made.

As Inspector G R Khandale of the Crime Branch’s modus operandi bureau points out, "Of the 22 cases registered since the last four months, 11 involved this mode of cheating. The rest were instances of thefts by trespassers either from the courtyards or store rooms of houses or from places near the storage centres or offices of the distributor."

Five of the 11 cheating cases were reported from the Ajni police area while three from Sitabuldi and two more from Sakkardara police areas. The remaining one was registered by the Ganeshpeth police.

Considering the rising prices of domestic cooking gas and long waiting lists of prospective consumers, the cheats find it easy to dispose of stolen cylinders, especially among commercial users like hotels and restaurants where the barter is effected at a throw-away price.

For instance, a domestic cylinder with standard capacity of 14.5 kg, costs Rs 213 while the prevailing price of a commercial cylinder, weighing capacity 19 kg, is around Rs 457. The price of the latter keeps varying as per octroi rates and other factors, inform company sources. The stolen cylinders are disposed of at a price much lesser than the commercial rates. And there are always domestic buyers who need an additional cylinder.

Going by the methodical modus operandi, police do not rule out complicity of workers or delivery boys employed by the gas agencies. "Otherwise," says another Crime Branch officer, "how come they (thieves) know that a cylinder has been delivered at a particular house."

In some cases, the culprits were found to be quite familiar with the working of gas agencies owing to their stint with such firms before they took to theft. Three weeks back, the Ajni police arrested one such suspect, Pradeep Balkrishna Karewar (28) of Dasra Road in Kotwali, and seized as many as nine LPG cylinders of Hindustan Petroleum (HP) brand apart from four of private brands. Karewar was previously working with Blue Flame gas services at Hanuman Nagar as delivery boy.