Hyderabad: In a crackdown against the black-marketing and illegal transportation of Oxygen, officials from the Rachakonda police’s Special Operations Team (SOT) arrested three persons and seized cylinders from their possession.
According to Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, the SOT received credible information that three persons were illegally transporting oxygen cylinders in an Omni Van and that they were proceeding towards Moula-Ali, ECIL.
The SOT officials then detained three persons, namely, Syed Abdulla of Chandrayangutta, Mohammed Mazhar of GM Chouni, Falaknuma and Syed Asif. During the search the persons could not produce the proper documents for transporting oxygen cylinders.
During the investigation, police officials learnt that Syed Asif is a resident Kanchanbagh, and was running an NGO called ‘Mass foundation’, and claimed to supply free oxygen cylinders, medical services at home and ambulance to needy COVID-19 patients. He was procuring oxygen cylinders each at Rs 16,000 through one Salman and then selling the same for Rs.25,000 to patients who are in need of it urgently. He recruited the other two accused for this illegal business.
During the operation the police seized oxygen cylinders, one Omini van and other materials. The Malkajgiri police registered a case under section 51 (B) of the Disaster Management Act and 188 of the Indian Penal Code.