Pimpri Chinchwad Police Crime Branch Unit 1 arrested two men on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, for stealing gas from commercial and domestic cylinders. The accused, Bhujangnath Dilip Patil (28) and Sambhaji Balaji Upase (24), both residents of Jadhavwadi, Chinchwad, were caught red-handed while refilling empty cylinders with gas from filled cylinders.
Police said that the two men had been stealing gas from commercial and domestic cylinders for some time. The Crime Branch Unit 1 received a tip-off about the theft and raided a godown in Jadhavwadi.
The police seized three commercial cylinders, one empty commercial cylinder, 34 filled domestic cylinders, 17 empty domestic cylinders, three gas refilling circuits, and one electronic weighing scale from the godown. The total value of the seized material is estimated to be Rs. 1,96,200.
The two men have been booked under sections 379 (theft), 420 (cheating), and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to combustible matter) of the Indian Penal Code. They are currently in police custody.