Man sent to jail for hoarding

SURAT, Jan 4: A petroleum solvent dealer in the city was arrested by the police and sent to the Sabarmati Central jail at Ahmedabad after...

SURAT, Jan 4: A petroleum solvent dealer in the city was arrested by the police and sent to the Sabarmati Central jail at Ahmedabad after District Magistrate and Collector R M Shah ordered his arrest for violating the provisions of the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Order, 1980.

A resident of Satyanarayan Society, Puna village, Paresh alias Manishkumar Hasmukh Talsania was arrested after he was allegedly found indulging in widespread irregularities in illegally stocking and distributing petroleum products and solvent. As much as 520 litres of solvent worth Rs 36,000 has been seized from him.

Providing details, District Supplies Officer K D Chandnani said that based on prior information, department inspectors carried out extensive checking at a number of areas in Varachha and Kapodara in the past two days. In the first raid, a three-wheeler tempo (GQC 1896) was intercepted in the Adarsh Nagar area with 440 litres of solvent. When questioned, the tempo driver Narayan Bharwad told the officials that the solvent belonged to Talsania.

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When contacted by the officials, Talsania admitted that the stock belonged to him and further searching of his shop located at Kapodara revealed that another 80 litres illegally stored by him.

He was detained and when questioned as from whom he was buying the goods, Talsania told that he bought it from one Suresh Patel, which, on inquiry, proved to be a fictitious name.

Talsania later confessed that he did not possess any permit to deal in petroleum products and that he sold the solvent mainly to autorickshaw drivers for Rs 20 a litre, officials added. No records of any kind were available with him.