Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The district administration, on Tuesday, seized over 53,000 litres of blue kerosene, meant for poor families under the public distribution system (PDS), illegally stored in a godown. This haul of blue kerosene meant for poor families was illegally stored in a godown in the city’s Niranjanpur area and no information about it was given to the administration, additional district magistrate (ADM) Abhay Bedekar said.
“At least nine dealers are allegedly involved in illegally storing 53,185 litres of kerosene without securing a licence under the Explosives Act,” he said, adding that an FIR had been registered in this regard.
Investigations have revealed that the blue kerosene meant for public distribution was being used illegally to run three tankers, he said.
The team seized 14,600 litres of blue kerosene, a tanker, and a tank worth Rs 15.63 lakh from one wholesale dealer Mannalal Lacchiram; 13,568 litres of kerosene, a tank, drum, and a truck, which was being run using kerosene, of a total worth of Rs 13.77 lakh from one RR Contractor; and 9,230 litres kerosene and a tank of a total worth of Rs 4.17 lakh from one Sushilchandra Purushottamdas.
“The team has also seized 5,300 litres of kerosene and a tank of a total worth of Rs 2.42 lakh from one Ameer Brothers; 4,870 litres of kerosene, a tank and drum of a total worth of Rs 2.25 lakh from Laddha Traders; 4,767 litres of kerosene and a truck of a total worth of Rs 3.5 lakh from JJ Sharma and Company; 820 litres of kerosene and four drums of a total worth of Rs 35,640 from Punjab Motors; and 30 litres of kerosene from Sameer Enterprises,” Bedekar said. He added that the team had also seized a truck, which was running by using kerosene as fuel, worth Rs 6.01 lakh from Shakti Traders.
Apart from blue kerosene, the authorities have seized four tankers of the accused dealers and other materials worth Rs 48.15 lakh, the official added.
