The Patna Petroleum Dealers' Association has threatened to observe a strike at all petrol pumps in the city on March 23 and 28 if the state government does not meet within a week their demands for safety and security.

Brijendra Kumar Sinha, president of the Patna Petroleum Dealers' Association, announced at a news meet on Thursday that the first strike will be observed on March 23 from 8pm to 8.15pm. He added that a second strike will be organised on March 28 from 8pm to 8.30pm if the association's demands are not met.

"In the past six months, there have been several cases of loot at Patna's petrol pumps," Sinha said. "In none of the cases was strong action taken by the district administration, which has given criminals a free hand."

He said a petrol pump at Daniyawan block in Patna district was looted twice in the past two months.

"This is proof of the criminals' increasing audacity amid deteriorating law and order in the state," he said.

"Our primary demand is the district administration must ensure the safety and protection of our lives and property," he added. "We demand extensive patrolling at all Patna petrol pumps. The officer in charge of the police station concerned - under whose jurisdiction any incident of loot happens - should be suspended if he fails to take any action within a definite timeframe."

The association members have also demanded that the district administration must clear all pending arms licence applications immediately.

Seven bike-borne armed criminals had looted Rs 3.82 lakh from the Shubhkamna petrol pump at Sikandarpur under the jurisdiction of Fatuha police station in Patna district on March 8 this year.

On January 4, three armed criminals looted Rs 1.8 lakh in similar fashion from the same petrol pump.

On January 9, eight armed criminals looted around Rs 5 lakh from a pump on the state highway 1 under the jurisdiction of Dhanarua police station in Patna district.

On December 22 last year, armed criminals looted cash worth Rs 2.5 lakh from a pump at Jamaluddin Chak under Khagaul police station.

Patna police on February 13 busted a gang involved in looting petrol pumps, including the one at Khagaul in January, and arrested two persons. The police are probing if the gang was involved in other similar cases.

"If the government fails to ensure our safety, we will sit and decide what to do next," Sinha said.