NEW DELHI: The police on Thursday arrested two persons in Dwarka district for conning a woman by selling her a fire extinguisher in the name of oxygen cylinder. The accused were identified as Ashutosh, 19, and Ayush, 22, residents of Dwarka’s Vikaspuri area. The two sold the fire extinguisher for an exorbitant amount of Rs 10,000.
“We received a complaint from a woman, Geeta Arora, alleging that two boys had sold her a fire extinguisher instead of an oxygen cylinder, which she urgently required for her relative suffering from breathing problems and low oxygen level, the symptoms of Covid-19. She had tried to admit him in a hospital, but could not arrange a bed,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dwarka Santosh Kumar Meena.
Geeta then tried to arrange an oxygen cylinder and came in contact with two persons, who cheated her. “When she called them to return the money, they hung up on her,” said the police officer. An FIR was lodged and a team of Special Staff Dwarka District gathered information about the criminals through an informer and technical surveillance.
“On the basis of secret information, the joint team arrested the accused. During sustained interrogation, the two told the police that they had lost their job during lockdown and made a plan to earn quick money. Aware about the shortage of medical oxygen in Delhi-NCR, the two decided to sell fire extinguishers as oxygen cylinders,” said the DCP.
According to the police, they sold a fire extinguisher to the complainant for Rs 10,000 in the name of an oxygen cylinder. They were trying to cheat more Covid patients, but the joint team of the Special staff and Uttam Nagar police nabbed them on time and recovered four fire extinguishers.
An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway. Beat and patrolling officials have been directed to patrol in civilian clothes to keep an eye on frequent law offenders,” said DCP Dwarka. Police teams are also conducting random raids to prevent black marketing of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, the two drugs essential for the treatment of Covid patients.