Delhi Bar busted for selling O2 device

“To portray that the machines were being sold at a fair price, stickers carrying fake maximum retail prices were pasted on them,” police said.

The Delhi Police on Thursday said a bar and restaurant south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony was being used to hoard and black market oxygen concentrators. Police said they seized 419 concentrators, which were allegedly being sold at inflated rates, after an investigation.

Police have arrested four people -- manager of the restaurant-cum-bar Nege & Ju and three employees of a private company, Matrix Cellular. (Representational image)

“To portray that the machines were being sold at a fair price, stickers carrying fake maximum retail prices were pasted on them,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (south) adding that the concentrators costing about ₹20,000 were sold for nearly ₹70,000.

Police have arrested four people -- manager of the restaurant-cum-bar Nege & Ju and three employees of a private company, Matrix Cellular.

Thakur said the private firm was used to import concentrators and store them at its godown in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur, from where the police recovered 387 concentrators. The remaining 32 concentrators were seized from the restaurant The private firm’s help was also sought in selling the equipment both offline as well as online.

The DCP said the restaurant is owned by Navneet Kalra, who also runs other businesses in central Delhi. “Kalra’s role is being investigated,” he said. HT tried to contact Kalra, his restaurant, and Matrix Cellular for comments. However, none of them could be reached.