LUCKNOW: A 70-year-old embroidery worker died of a suspected heart attack while waiting to collect an LPG cylinder at a gas agency godown in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
The deceased, Mukhtiyar Ahmed, a resident of the Garhi Khan Khana area, collapsed after complaining of severe chest pain while standing near the godown in the Lal Sarai area around 9 am, according to family members.
People present at the spot tried to revive him by performing CPR and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. He is survived by his wife and seven children, including five daughters.
Family members said Ahmed had gone to the gas agency a day earlier after the cooking gas at his home ran out. After waiting in a queue, he was issued a slip and asked to collect the filled cylinder from the godown the next day.
On Friday morning, he went to the godown to collect the cylinder, where a large number of people had gathered, a relative claimed.
However, Farrukhabad District Supply Officer Surendra Yadav denied that the man had been standing in a long queue or that his death was linked to waiting for hours. He said the cylinder had already been booked and the man had come only to collect it.
Yadav added that the incident occurred about half an hour after Ahmed reached the godown.
The incident comes amid an LPG supply crunch in several places due to panic buying by consumers following the Iran–US–Israel conflict in West Asia, despite government assurances about adequate availability of cylinders.
Meanwhile, the state government has stepped up action against the black marketing of LPG cylinders. Enforcement teams at the district level carried out inspections and raids at more than 1,500 locations.
During the drive, four FIRs were registered against LPG distributors and 20 against individuals allegedly involved in black marketing of cylinders. Six people were arrested on the spot, and prosecution proceedings were initiated against 19 others.
To monitor supply and address complaints, a 24-hour control room has been set up at the office of the Food Commissioner. Officials from the Food and Civil Supplies Department have been deployed there.
Control rooms have also been established in all districts across the state, while officials of the District Supply Office and the local administration have been directed to conduct field visits to ensure uninterrupted supply of petrol, diesel and LPG.