140 CFC cylinders seized, 3 arrested

Varanasi, July 13 (UNI) As many as 140 cylinders of banned Chloro Fluoro Carbon (CFC) gas being smuggled from Dhanbad to Ghaziabad have been seized from the Lanka area here by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths and three persons arrested.

Acting on specific inputs, DRI sleuths last night seized truck-load of 140 CFC cylindars being carried from Dhanbad (Jharkhand) to Ghaziabad, official sources said here today.

The seized cylinders were valued at Rs 12 lakh, sources added.

Three persons Mohd Ahmad, Mohd Kasim and Vashisth Paswan were arrested along with the seized truck-load.

Import of CFC gas cylinders is banned in the country and the seized truckload was smuggled into Indian territory through Nepal and after landing in Bihar and Jharkhand, it was being supplied to refrigeration units in Ghaziabad, sources added.

The import of these gas cylinders produced outside India has been banned as the CFC gas is hazardous to environment due to its property of adversely affecting earth's ozone layer.

UNI