2 held for black-marketing of oxygen cylinders: Police
The main accused, Pawan (21), is a resident of Dakshinpuri. He is a trained paramedic and worked with the CATS ambulance service
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested two paramedics working with the CATS ambulance service in connection with a case of alleged black-marketing of oxygen cylinders, officials said on Monday.
The main accused, Pawan (21), is a resident of Dakshinpuri. He is a trained paramedic and worked with the CATS ambulance service. He used to charge Rs 40,000 for a 15-litre cylinder and Rs 90,000 for a 50-litre cylinder, the police said.
He circulated his mobile phone number on Instagram and soon started receiving requests for oxygen cylinders. The accused started misappropriating the oxygen cylinders issued for ambulances to transport critically ill-patients, the police said, adding that he received money from the buyers through Paytm.
Pawan was being helped by his associates, Vipin Nagar and Rohit Nagar, who are also paramedics.
The police have arrested Vipin, while efforts are on to nab Rohit.
The matter was reported by a woman at the Ambedkar Nagar police station in south Delhi on May 6. In her complaint, she stated that a man posted a mobile number with a message on social media about supplying oxygen cylinders to COVID-19 patients and when she called the number, he asked for Rs 90,000 for a 50-litre oxygen cylinder.
Based on her complaint, a case was registered under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, 51(B) of the Disaster Management Act and 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said.
“We mounted technical surveillance and developed local intelligence, which helped in apprehending Pawan. A mobile phone was also seized from his possession. During interrogation, Pawan said he has been working as a paramedic with the CATS ambulance services for two years,” he said.
The police found out that many people had contacted Pawan for oxygen cylinders.
On checking his Paytm account, they found out that the accused had received large amounts of money, the DCP said.
“A raid was conducted at Pawan’s warehouse and two oxygen cylinders (a 50-litre cylinder and a 15-litre cylinder) were seized along with 32 PPE kits. Cash amounting to Rs 1 lakh was also recovered from his house,” the officer said.
