Tuesday, June 05, 2012

What to do when your LPG cylinder is stolen?

We had our LPG cylinder stolen few months ago. It was empty and was kept outside in an unsecured area as were expecting the delivery guy to come and replace it. Some smart thief managed to steal it away when no one was around. When we returned home from work it was a surprise. We weren’t used to gas cylinder robbery. At first we thought agency guy might have taken the empty cylinder and would bring refill later... Eventually we realized that it is stolen.

We checked with the agency on the process. We were asked to file a police complaint. We did that. Police team promptly visited our residence, took statement from neighbors. After 1 week, they issued a non traceable report, saying lost cylinder couldn’t be found. We had to make a total of 5-7 visits to the police station, but no money had to be paid.

In between, delivery person came with new filled cylinder, but went back without delivering it, since we didn’t have an empty cylinder to give.

Next step was to get a demand draft for Rs 2000 in the name of Gas Agency. This, along with a letter and copy of police statement, was submitted to gas agency. Also logged a new refill request. Subsequently, a replacement cylinder was delivered.

The whole process took about 2 months.

It was good lesson learnt. We’ll probably chain the empty cylinder from now. Sharing it here so that you can be careful with your empty cylinder and be aware of the process in case an empty cylinder is stolen.

Our stolen cylinder is probably being circulated in black market, to those who are don’t have/can’t get regular gas connection and are ready to pay twice the normal price for a cylinder full of gas.

18 comments:

Jnaneshwara said...

Oh god. V should be careful about empty cylinder also then..

ವಿ.ರಾ.ಹೆ. said...

Thanks for the info.

Roopa Pavan said...

Good information.....
http://www.deccansojourn.com

Ashwini said...

Best thing is government should ban these cylinders and provide gas in pipes directly to the kitchen.Its much more safer and we can avoid all these trouble.

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Ashwini:
Good idea, Reliance is trying to do the same. But the risk is huge- what if gas lines are damaged due to some digging or other activity?

Vi Ra He, Jnaneshwara: Thanks

Deepakkk said...

OMG :)
robbery here too ?
thanks for the info

bob said...

never thought anyone could steal LPG cylinders... lol

Raveesh Kumar said...

Good info nidhi

Marina said...

Oh don't worry about it . We have piped natural gas delivered by Indrapastha gas in Delhi . Much cheaper , safer , more convenient .
The pipelines are laid very deep - all of Delhi was dug up before the CWG but no damage !

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Marina: Good to know. Yes, I know piped gas is used in many cities world wide... hope our road digging entities play it safe..

Raveesh: Thanks

Bob: :)

Deepak: Yes

Anonymous said...

Last night our Indane gas cylinder (in use) was stolen from our apartment's basement parking area. The thief left the regulator.

We have a pipe installed from basement to our flat and we were asked to keep the cylinder in that place by the apartment owner. There is an iron cage which was locked, where we kept the cylinder. Lock was broken, and cylinder stolen.

This evening we are going to the police station to log FIR complaint.

Following the apartment owner's advice we kept the cylinder at the basement (although caged/locked), and we lost the cylinder. No we are at a loss. We will never keep this way again. There is no guard in the apartment (total 7 flats).

Anonymous said...

My 2 Indane cylinders were stolen 3 months back and I went through the whole process described in this blog to get replacements. Now the police have found the 2 cylinders. Does anyone know whether Indane will take back these cylinders and return the 4K penalty that I had to pay for getting replacements?

Anonymous said...

One empty Indane cooking gas cylinder was stolen from 1st floor of my house ITI layout ,kathriguppe main raod ,on 25.12.2012. I have given police complaint in Channammanakere police station.Not sure how police is proceeding with investigations.

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Anon, wish you speedy recovery of your cylinder

Hatim said...

7 LPG gas cylinders were stolen from Arekere Mico Layout, brindavan extension, Police registered FIR, but no response..

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Sad. better to chain them

netesh kumar said...

Do you have with them

Anonymous said...

We kept our 2 cylinders in the cage..main gate &cage both r locked..wonder how the thief stolen it...


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