Gurgaon Police, on Friday, arrested 4 individuals for promoting oxygen cylinders within the black market whilst a number of personal hospitals within the district report a scarcity of oxygen.
According to officers, the 4 accused have been promoting cylinders price Rs 12,000 to Rs 14,000 at a value of Rs 90,000. They have been arrested by a joint group of the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad, Gurgaon’s Police’s Sector 40 Crime Branch, and the Drugs Controller on the idea of a tip off.
“A team was formed as soon as the tip off was received, and a fake customer called the accused and made a deal to buy a 48 kg cylinder from them at a cost of Rs 90,000. Upon going to the decided place, a man came and began preparing to give the fake customer an oxygen cylinder kept in a car nearby. Upon receiving the signal, the police team immediately arrested the man and his accomplices who were sitting in the car,” mentioned Subhash Boken, PRO of Gurgaon Police.
The accused, police mentioned, have been recognized as Bhupendra Yadav, a resident of Jind, who was the chief of the group, his nephew, Rajesh, Satyam, who hails from Bihar, and Dharmendra Punia, who hails from Rajasthan.
“During questioning, it emerged that Yadav is the leader of the gang. He has a firm by the name of Old Healthcare Solution with an office in a housing society, and offers ICU nursing services and other facilities. With the Covid pandemic prevailing and the number of patients increasing massively nowadays, they knew that several people require oxygen cylinders urgently,” mentioned Boken.
“Taking advantage of this, to earn some profit, they began black marketing of oxygen cylinders, selling 48 kg cylinders that normally cost Rs 12,000 to 14,000 in the market at a cost of Rs 90,000. During questioning, they revealed that they had carried 10 cylinders with them, and had sold one on Thursday at a cost of Rs 70,000,” he mentioned.
Police mentioned an FIR has been registered towards the accused and 9 oxygen cylinders in addition to a Breza automotive have been seized.
“They are being questioned to determine how many cylinders they have sold so far and where they were procuring and filling these from. Further investigations are being conducted in the matter,” mentioned the PRO.