A 19-kg business cooking gasoline cylinder was allegedly stolen from a lodge in the busy Chala market space in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in the early hours of Friday (March 13, 2026), the police mentioned.
The theft of cooking gasoline was reported at VS Hotel in at 2 am on Friday amid the worsening LPG shortage in the nation following the conflict in West Asia.
Vimal Kumar, proprietor of VS Hotel, mentioned that the accused entered the premises after breaking open the door of the kitchen space and took away a crammed LPG cylinder.
“The kitchen door is at the front portion of the shop. After entering inside, he switched off the electricity to make the CCTV camera dysfunctional. However, the camera was connected to a UPS,” Mr. Kumar mentioned.
According to him, realising that the CCTV was nonetheless functioning, the accused modified the route of the digital camera.
“There were three cylinders in the kitchen. Two were in use and one was a filled cylinder. He left after taking the filled cylinder,” Mr. Kumar mentioned.
Restaurant shut
With the LPG shortage and the theft, the restaurant has been compelled to close down operations.
“Since we have a limited stock of LPG cylinders now, only biryani was cooked on Friday. We are closing the restaurant from Saturday as there is no LPG left and fresh cylinders are not available,” he mentioned.
Mr. Kumar has filed a grievance with the the Fort police.
CCTV visuals of the incident have additionally been handed over to the police.
“We suspect the involvement of another restaurant which has rivalry with us. However, let the police investigate the matter,” Mr. Kumar mentioned.
