Gang black marketing oxygen concentrators busted

New Delhi Four members of a gang allegedly selling oxygen concentrators in the black market were arrested from the national capital and as many as 115 oxygen concentrators were recovered from their possession in an operation that also saw the Delhi Police also search for an oxygen cylinder to cut open the shutters of a godown from which the alleged kingpin refused to come out for nearly 12 hours

New Delhi Four members of a gang allegedly selling oxygen concentrators in the black market were arrested from the national capital and as many as 115 oxygen concentrators were recovered from their possession in an operation that also saw the Delhi Police also search for an oxygen cylinder to cut open the shutters of a godown from which the alleged kingpin refused to come out for nearly 12 hours.

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The main accused, Anil Jain, was arrested four years ago as well for allegedly changing old currency notes worth ₹5 crore to new ones, in the aftermath of demonetisation, said Rajiv Ranjan, deputy commissioner of police (outer-north). Police could not immediately share the current status of the case.

The latest racket was busted after the special staff of the outer north district police learnt that a gang was allegedly hoarding and selling oxygen concentrators illegally.

“Based on the inputs we received, we sent a policeman as a decoy customer to purchase an oxygen concentrator on Friday,” said the DCP.

The decoy was offered a machine for ₹1.1 lakh though the maximum retail price was only ₹40,000. Police arrested the two sellers, Anuj Jain and Shekhar Kumar, from Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in outer Delhi and seized five concentrators kept in their car.

Their questioning led police to a house in West Delhi’s Janakpuri, from where 60 oxygen concentrators were recovered, and five more from another car. A third suspect, Keshav Chaudhary, was also arrested.

Chaudhary’s questioning allegedly pointed police to a warehouse in Janakpuri where more concentrators were allegedly stored.

“When we visited the warehouse on Saturday evening, we were surprised to learn that Anil Jain was inside,” the DCP said.

With Jain locking himself in and refusing to surrender, police looked for a gas cutter but could not operate it without an oxygen cylinder. Nearly 12 hours later, police had finally managed to secure an oxygen cylinder and began to cut the shutter when Anil Jain surrendered.

The DCP said that 45 oxygen concentrators were recovered from the warehouse.