New Delhi: The Delhi Police arrested businessman Navneet Kalra Sunday night for alleged black marketing and hoarding of oxygen concentrators amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.
The businessman had been on the run for over a week since the seizure of more than 500 oxygen concentrators from three restaurants owned by him in the national capital.
The concentrators are a crucial medical equipment used for COVID-19 patients and are on high demand amid the second wave of the pandemic.
On Friday, the Delhi High Court had declined to grant Kalra interim protection from arrest in the case. Kalra had moved the high court for anticipatory bail on May 13 late evening after a sessions court denied him the relief.
During a recent raid, 524 oxygen concentrators were recovered from three restaurants owned by Kalra — Khan Chacha, Nega Ju and Town Hall. The case was subsequently transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch.
The police claimed that the concentrators were imported from China and were being sold at an exorbitant price of Rs 50,000 to 70,000 a piece as against its cost of Rs 16,000 to Rs 22,000.
Also read: Armed forces procure oxygen, medical supplies as Covid cases go up in rural areas
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.