Sambalpur: An illegal cooking gas trade operating in Burla area of Sambalpur district came to light after a pickup van carrying LPG cylinders overturned Thursday morning. Police arrested a youth Manthan Prasad Mahato, 27, of the Burla Market area in connection with the case. Police seized about 161 domestic LPG cylinders of various companies, each with a capacity of 14.2 kg, allegedly stored illegally. The seizure included 62 filled cylinders, 60 empty Bharat Gas cylinders and 39 empty Indane cylinders. The pickup van (OD15-Q-0159) used to transport the cylinders was also seized. According to police, the vehicle met with an accident and overturned near Metakani Dhaba on the Sambalpur University road in Burla at around 8 am.
On being informed, Burla police reached the spot, rescued the driver and inspected the vehicle. During the check, six sealed Bharat Gas cylinders were found inside. When asked to produce valid documents, the owner claimed he was a private gas distributor with a godown in the Burla Market area but failed to show any legal papers. Police then inspected the godown and found a large number of domestic LPG cylinders stored without valid authorisation. All cylinders and the vehicle were seized. A case (126/26) has been registered at Burla police station, and Mahato was produced in court Thursday, police said.
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