Three people were booked and two arrested for distributing gas illegally and causing a fire incident that damaged five shops in its vicinity in Balewadi on Friday night.
In a tin shed, the owner and employee of Namrata Gas Agency were filling up small gas cylinders from a bigger cylinder to gain a profit margin, according to the police.
At 11:10pm on Friday, when the two were filling gas into the small cylinders, one caught fire and the entire operation went up in flames. While no casualties were reported, the blaze caused damage to five neighbouring shops and the electricity pole near it.
A case under Sections 285, 286, 435 and 34 of Indian Penal Code along with Section 3 and 7 of Essential Commodity Act was registered at Chatuhshrungi police station.
The gas agency blaze was the second incident in Balewadi area within 24 hours. On Saturday night, five workers of a restaurant were injured in a gas leak that led to a blaze opposite Balewadi High Street.
“They were in the restaurant, where they work, to cook and eat as they did not have anything to cook at their house. They detected the gas leak and switched off the main line. However, they did not realise that the gas had already filled up the place. As one of them switched on a lighter, the room went up in flames and the one standing near the shutter was thrown out on impact,” said Hawaldar Deepak Dhabekar who was among the first people to respond to the incident.
The security team of Panchshil Group who was near the Cummins building located nearby helped the police douse the fire before the fire brigade reached.
“They were quick to provide us the support as we all thought there were others stuck inside. Fortunately, the four others found their way out from the back exit,” said Dhabekar.
While four of the injured were from West Bengal, one was a native of Maharashtra. While one of them was rushed to Jupiter hospital, the others were taken to Mediplex Polyclinic. However, they were all later moved to Surya Sahyadri Hospital where they are undergoing treatment.
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