Debajyoti Bandopadhyay, 33, frail in appearance, can be found at work outside the Talkatora stadium here. Bandopadhyay invented a gadget which saves 40 per cent of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and already sold more than 1,000 pieces of the device, patented in June 1993. It was certified by the Dhanbad-based Central Fuel Research Institute (CFRI).

A Physics (honours) graduate from Calcutta University, Bandopadhyay said he left his house in Konnagar in Hoogly district eight months ago after being hounded by goons. They want to snatch his invention and ask him to withdraw a case he filed against them after being kidnapped and forced to close down the unit manufacturing the gadget.

With just a suitcase and all the books and papers he could lay hands on, he left behind his family, including a mother virtually in her death-bed. The Petroleum ConservationResearch Association (PCRA), which collected Rs 40,000 and four of his equipment two years ago for testing, refused to certify his claim. He has approached the Human Rights Commission for protection from the thugs and filed a complaint with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission against the PCRA. The gadget injects oxygen drawn from the atmosphere and pumps it into the system between the stove and cylinder. The instrument, which generates pressure in the system, also helps more efficient combustion, thereby saving fuel.

Bandopadhyay sleeps at a dharamshala, and has just two pairs of clothes. He skipped meals for two days to buy chappals for Rs 30. Yet, he hopes for success on the strength of his belief,`Hum honge kaamyab (We shall overcome).'

He says that PCRA which approved the product for evaluation for screening in 1996 at one of the member labs has played truant and had asked him to get his instrument tested from any other laboratory.