The impact of the ongoing tensions involving the US, Iran and Israel are now being felt far beyond the conflict zone. In India, the crisis has taken an unexpected turn as a severe LPG shortage has begun disrupting daily life, forcing restaurants to shut down and even leading to incidents of theft.

Videos circulating on social media show multiple cases of LPG cylinders being stolen from restaurants, residential areas and delivery vehicles across different states, as the shortage worsens.

Cylinder stolen from hotel kitchen in Keralam

One such incident was reported from Chala market area in Keralam’s Thiruvananthapuram, where a 19-kg commercial cooking gas cylinder was allegedly stolen from a hotel in the early hours of Friday, police said. The theft occurred at VS Hotel at around 2 am. According to PTI, the accused broke open the kitchen door and entered the premises before taking away a filled LPG cylinder. Vimal Kumar, owner of VS Hotel, said the accused appeared to have tried to disable the surveillance system.

“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,” Kumar told PTI.

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Realising that the CCTV was still functioning, the accused changed the direction of the camera, Kumar said, adding that the accused took a filled gas cylinder from the kitchen.

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With LPG supplies already scarce, the theft has forced the restaurant to halt operations. “Since we have a limited stock of LPG cylinders now, only biriyani was cooked on Friday. We are closing the restaurant from Saturday as there is no LPG left and fresh cylinders are not available,” he said. Kumar has filed a complaint with the Fort police and handed over CCTV footage of the incident. He also claimed there could be a business rivalry behind the theft.

Videos show cylinder thefts in Bengaluru

Another incident was reported in Bengaluru, where a video shared by PTI on X shows a man arriving on a two-wheeler in a residential area and fleeing with an LPG cylinder wrapped in a sack. The incident reportedly took place in Kalyan Nagar. In another case in Channapatna, CCTV footage showed two people arriving on a scooter and stealing a cylinder that had been kept outside a house.

No arrests have been made in either case so far, and police are investigating the incidents. Authorities have urged Bengaluru residents to keep cylinders indoors and report any suspicious activity.