Breakthrough Achieved In Case Of 90 Metric Tonnes Of LPG Theft In Mahasamund

Mahasamund: The Police in Mahasamund have arrested one of the three persons accused in the theft of 90 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from a capsule vehicle.

While Nikhil Vaishnav, who is the Plant Manager of Thakur Petrochemical Company in Abhanpur, has been arrested, two Company Directors, Santosh Thakur and Sarthak Thakur, are still at large. The recoveries from the arrested accused include seven LPG capsule vehicles, four large gas bullets, hundreds of commercial gas cylinders of varying capacities, transaction documents, computers, mobile phones, closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) and digital video recorders (DVRs).

Sources disclosed that in December last year, the Saraipali administration seized six LPG capsule tankers that were allegedly refilling gas illegally. These tankers were confiscated and stored at Singhora Police Station that were handed over to Thakur Petrochemical Company in Abhanpur for safekeeping on March 30, 2026, because of security concerns.

When the owner of the tankers arrived at Thakur Petrochemical Company on April 17 to retrieve his tankers after securing bail from the High Court, he was shocked to find the tankers completely empty. He complained to the Collector and the Chief Minister, following which the Police launched an investigation into the matter.

Sources disclosed that a Police raid revealed that the very people who had been given the tankers for safe-keeping on account of security concerns had committed the theft. The investigation revealed that Thakur Petrochemical's Directors and Plant Manager had colluded to remove the gas from the tankers and transfer it to their own bulk storage tanks. Approximately 90 metric tonnes of gas was allegedly stolen and sold in the market. Some of it was also transacted as crude oil.

It needs to be underlined that this was allegedly done at a time when there was a reported LPG scarcity in the country and the gas was being sold in black at several places.

Mahasamund’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhat Kumar said, “This is a serious case of fraud. The arrested accused is being interrogated and more individuals involved in this case may be arrested soon.”