Delhi Police has arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly storing eight cylinders of highly poisonous chlorine gas without a valid licence in a partially constructed building near a designated Chhath Puja ghat in outer Delhi’s Ranhola area, an official said on Sunday.
The police seized the cylinders, each having a stated gross weight of approximately 1,519 kg, during a raid on November 14.
The accused has been identified as Hasan Ansari alias Babu, a resident of Palam in Delhi, they said.
“The illegal storage came to light during patrolling when a team received specific information about chlorine gas cylinders being stored without mandatory licences or permissions in the jurisdiction of Ranhola police station,” a senior police officer said.
The information was verified and found credible, following which a raiding team was constituted.
Acting on the information, the police team reached a partially constructed building in Shiv Vihar, Vikas Nagar, where it found eight cylinders containing highly poisonous and hazardous chlorine gas, he said.
The premises were allegedly being used by Ansari for unauthorised storage of the gas. When asked to produce a valid licence or permission from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), he failed to furnish any such document, he added.
Police said the storage of such a large quantity of hazardous gas in close proximity to a designated Chhath Puja ghat posed a potential threat to public safety, particularly amid arrangements for the religious festival.
The cylinders were seized and the accused was arrested. An FIR has been registered at Ranhola police station under sections 125, 286, 287 and 270 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 9B(1)(b) of the Explosives Act, Rules 43 and 44 of the Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016, and Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, has been registered.
“We are investigating the source of the chlorine gas, the purpose for which it was being stored and whether other persons were involved in the illegal activity,” the officer said.
Further investigation is underway.
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