Nagpur: The Nagpur City Crime Branch Unit No. 1 on Sunday exposed a large-scale illegal gas cylinder black marketing operation in Hingna, seizing assets worth over ₹11.21 lakh and arresting two accused red-handed.
According to police, the action was carried out on February 9, 2026, around 5.10 pm, after the Crime Branch received credible information about illegal refilling and black marketing of domestic LPG cylinders at a godown located in a farm owned by Habib Gulam Sheikh at village Khadki, under Hingna police station limits.
During the raid conducted in the presence of panch witnesses, police caught two persons illegally transferring gas from domestic cylinders into commercial cylinders. The accused were identified as Sunilkumar Hadmanaram Jani (42) and Prakash Budharam Khilleri (23). During interrogation, they revealed the involvement of their associates, including Shravan Kumar Rajuram Jani (23), all natives of Jodhpur district in Rajasthan, godown owner Habib Gulam Sheikh of Khadki, Hingna, and the owner of Bhavani Gas Agency.
From the spot, police seized a total of 179 gas cylinders, including 125 domestic HP cylinders and 54 commercial cylinders of HP Gas, Bharat Gas and Indane. The seizure also included two refilling machines with motors and pipes, two weighing scales, seven regulators, 80 transfer pipes, three vacuum pumps, six mobile phones, ₹12,700 in cash, and a Bolero pickup vehicle (RJ-18-GC-7609). The total value of the seized property is estimated at ₹11,21,700.
Police stated that the accused were illegally refilling domestic gas cylinders into commercial ones for personal financial gain, posing a serious safety hazard. A case has been registered at Hingna police station under Section 287 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The accused have been handed over to Hingna police along with the seized material. Further investigation is underway, and efforts are on to trace absconding accused.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Ravindrakumar Singal, Additional Commissioner Navinchandra Reddy, Additional CP (Crime) Vasant Pardeshi, DCP (Detection) Rahul Maknikar, and ACP (Crime Branch) Abhijit Patil, by PI Dnyaneshwar Bhedodkar and his team.
