Raid on Indian graveyard uncovers hidden cooking gas canisters amid shortage

Indian police this week seized 414 cooking‑gas canisters hidden in a graveyard in Hyderabad city and arrested those involved in trying to sell them on the black market amid shortages due to the Iran war, a government official said on Thursday.

Authorities have stepped up raids to curb hoarding of liquefied petroleum gas canisters after the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipping, causing supply shortages. India, the world’s No. 2 LPG importer, meets about 60% of its demand through overseas purchases, mostly from the Middle East.

“Just yesterday, around 2,600 raids were carried out and about 700 cylinders were seized,” Sujata Sharma, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told a regular briefing on the Middle East crisis.

“In addition, around 400 cylinders were recently found at one location inside a graveyard in Hyderabad. Ten people have been detained there, and the distributor involved has been suspended,” she said.

Police said the accused had been selling both commercial and domestic canisters from the graveyard at nearly three times the current market price. A commercial canister that costs about 2,100 Indian rupees ($22) had been sold for as much as 6,000 rupees.

The total value of the seized canisters and some vehicles used by the accused was nearly 2.2 million rupees, police said. Reuters could not immediately contact the accused or their representatives.

“The supply of natural gas to domestic consumers is 100% assured,” Sharma said. “With regard to LPG supply, prices have remained stable despite international volatility, and there has been no increase in the price of domestic LPG cylinders."

To ease the pressure on LPG supplies, India has been promoting the use of alternatives such as kerosene, coal and biogas, while accelerating the rollout of piped natural gas for households.

($1 = 93.1910 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Hritam Mukherjee in New Delhi and Rishika Sadam in Hyderbad; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)