CNG price hiked by Rs 2 per kg
New Delhi, May 16: The price of CNG in the national capital has been hiked by Rs 2 per kg, the 12th increase in rates in just over two months.
CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi now costs Rs 73.61 per kg, up from Rs 71.61 per kg, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) -- the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and adjoining cities.
This is the 12th increase in price since March 7.
In all, the CNG price has risen by Rs 17.6 per kg during this period. This includes a Rs 7.50 per kg hike in the month of April alone.
In the last one year, prices have increased by Rs 30.21 per kg or 60 per cent, according to data compiled by PTI.
However, the rates of gas piped to household kitchens, called piped natural gas (PNG), remain unchanged at Rs 45.86 per scm.
City gas distributors have been periodically raising prices since October last year, when domestic as well as international gas prices started to climb as economies the world over recovered from the pandemic-induced slowdown.
Prices rose by Rs 8.74 per kg in the last three months of 2021, and from January there was a steady increase of about 50 paise a kg almost every week.
The rates have gone up after the government more than doubled the price of natural gas to USD 6.1 per million British thermal unit from April 1.
Natural gas when compressed becomes CNG for use as fuel in automobiles. The same gas is piped to household kitchens and industries for cooking and other purposes.
Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has priced Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) at Rs 76 per kg in Mumbai.
Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.
The increase in CNG prices follows a Rs 10 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices in 16 days and a Rs 100 per cylinder increase in the cooking gas LPG rates.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
