Dharmanagar, May 2 — In a major crackdown on black-marketing, Dharmanagar police conducted a coordinated raid across multiple locations in the town, seizing 60 illegal cooking gas cylinders and uncovering what appears to be an organised racket operating in the subdivision.
The operation, carried out on Friday, followed specific intelligence inputs and a series of complaints from residents regarding the illegal sale and diversion of LPG cylinders. Acting swiftly, police teams launched simultaneous searches at key locations suspected to be part of the network.
During the raid, authorities recovered 18 cylinders from a shop owned by Azam Khan near Tripureshwari Gas in Purba Bazar. Another 27 cylinders were seized from the residence of Arjun Pal at Madhubari Link Road in the Radhapur area. Additionally, 15 cylinders were recovered from the house of Salma Begum in the Ragna locality. Of the total haul, 26 cylinders were found filled while 34 were empty. Officials confirmed that none of the seized cylinders were backed by valid documentation, raising serious concerns about their origin and intended use.
Officer-in-Charge of Dharmanagar Police Station, Mina Debbarma, stated that all the recovered cylinders have been confiscated and will be handed over to the Food Department for further examination and legal action. Preliminary investigations indicate the possible involvement of a larger, well-coordinated black-market network. Police are currently probing whether the cylinders were stolen, illegally diverted from supply chains, or sourced through other unlawful means.
The raid has come as a relief to local residents, many of whom had raised repeated complaints about cylinder shortages, suspected theft and inflated prices in the black market. However, the scale of the seizure has also sparked concern about how deeply entrenched such illegal operations may be in the region.
Authorities have assured that stringent action will be taken against those found guilty once the Food Department completes its inquiry. Police officials have also indicated that further raids and investigations are likely as they work to dismantle the network and curb black-marketing activities in the area.
