Cylinder blast spreads panic in Chandigarh’s Mauli Jagran Complex

Panic spread in Mauli Jagran Complex on Thursday night after a cylinder exploded at a house.

According to police, an occupant of the house was refilling small LPG cylinders using a regular sized Indane-make cylinder, when the blast occurred due to a gas leak, leading to a fire.

The occupant, Rohit Kumar, was arrested for act endangering life or personal safety of others under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code.

The sound of the explosion was loud enough to scare area residents, who came out of their houses at night.

A team of fire fighters doused the fire. No one was injured.

Police recovered a number of small cylinders from the spot. An investigating officer said the accused used to sell off the small cylinders at cheaper rates to area residents.

In a similar incident on January 10, a 34-year-old labourer was killed and two others were injured after a cylinder exploded in a catering warehouse in Teera village, Mullanpur.

The owner of the warehouse had told police that catering equipment, including utensils and cylinders, was stored on the ground floor of the building.

On January 10, workers were refilling gas in a cylinder that was to be supplied for some event. During this, gas from one of the cylinders leaked, leading to an explosion. The blast caused the ceiling of the warehouse to collapse, leaving three workers seriously injured. They were treated at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, Chandigarh. The deceased, Neeraj Kumar, hailed from Uttar Pradesh.