Three men were arrested in southwest Delhi's Mahipalpur for allegedly hoarding LPG cylinders to sell them at a premium price, police said on Sunday.

They were identified as Krishna, Dinesh Sahu, and Mithilesh, aged 33, 46, and 39, all from Bihar but living in Delhi.

The police seized 74 LPG cylinders – 70 domestic and four commercial - along with a transport vehicle and refilling equipment in the raid on Saturday, an officer said.

"The trio was engaged in illegally storing LPG cylinders and supplying them to local customers without bills or licences. They allegedly used metal pipes to transfer gas from multiple filled cylinders into empty ones to manipulate supply and increase margins," the officer said.

"During the search, a large number of LPG cylinders, weighing machines and gas transfer equipment were found. The accused failed to produce any valid documents for storage or distribution of the cylinders," the officer said.

Among the recovered items were 54 filled and 16 used domestic cylinders, three filled and one used commercial cylinder, an electronic weighing scale, two hanging weighing machines and equipment used for refilling gas.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Vasant Kunj North police station.

The three have been living in Delhi for over two decades and were allegedly involved in the illegal LPG trade in the Mahipalpur area for the past three years, the police said.

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