Profiteering during a pandemic: When a vial worth Rs 40k is sold at Rs 10 lakh
New Delhi, May 07: With the second wave of COVID-19 raging on and black markers making merry over shortage of medical supplies, the Delhi Police has booked over 300 cases.
The cases pertain to hoarding of drugs, injections and oxygen cylinders. The police have also arrested 140 black marketeers, while 450 vials of Remdesivir injections, 285 oxygen concentrators and 242 oxygen cylinders have been seized.
The Delhi Police is in touch with their counterparts in Uttarakhand and Bihar and are seeking support to conduct raids in connection with the same.
Further the Delhi Police also found that ambulances were overcharging patients up to Rs 1 lakh per trip.
States allocated 34.5 lakh vials of Remdesivir so far: Union minister Sadananda Gowda
The cops have booked cases for hoarding of medical equipment as well as black marketing.
Delhi Police sources tell OneIndia that the racket is taking place on a very large scale. While vials of Remdesivir have been sold at Rs 2,500, the Tocilizumab injection is being sold at prices between Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The original price of a Tocilizumab vial is at around Rs 40,000. The price of Remdesivir was recently dropped to around Rs 899 on the request of the Centre.
It was also found that these seamsters had created fake websites of the Health Ministry and were offering COVID-19 vaccines at Rs 4,000. Further the police found that through these websites, these seamsters were collecting money, but not delivering the promised medicines.
Meanwhile
in
Karnataka,
90
people
were
arrested
for
selling
Remdesivir
in
the
lack
market.
"Ninety
people
have
been
arrested
for
selling
Remdesivir
in
the
black
market
and
cases
booked
against
38
persons
for
packaging
fake
Remdesivir,"
DGP
Karnataka
said
in
a
tweet,
without
mentioning
the
period
during
which
they
were
arrested.
Sood
said
the
arrests
were
part
of
a
drive
to
nab
those
trying
to
earn
money
illegally
"in
this
tough
situation."
Demand
has
shot
up
for
Remdesivir
in
Karnataka
following
the
spike
in
the
number
of
cases.
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The state on Wednesday reported the single largest day spike in both COVID-19 cases and fatalities since the start of the pandemic, with 50,112 infections and 346 deaths. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had on May 1 warned of stringent action against those selling Remdesivir in the black market.