Mahesh Sharma Raikot May 5 An owner of a tyre shop at Sadhar was arrested today for allegedly hoarding and blak marketing of medical oxygen cylinders in the region. The Ludhiana (Rural) police recovered as many as 23 oxygen cylinders from him. Amid acute shortage of the live-saving essential commodity the police said Somnath a resident of Nai Abadi Akalgarh Sadhar was found charging Rs 15000 for one cylinder which is usually sold for Rs 300 approximately. The accused was arrested after Balbir Singh a resident of Toosa village reported the same to the police. Ludhiana (Rural) SSP Charanjit Singh Sohal said the cops nabbed Somnath on Tuesday afternoon. The accused has been booked under Sections 420 188 and 120B of the IPC; Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 51 of the National Disaster Management Act. The complainant had purchased two cylinders for the treatment of his relative. He said he paid Rs 15000 for a large cylinder and Rs 11000 for the small one. “The Covid patient was later shifted to a multispecialty hospital. I wanted to return the unused cylinder and get my money in return. However Somnath refused to take the cylinder back arguing that it had become scrap now” the complainant said. The police said the accused used to get cylinders refilled from an oxygen plant at Focal Point through the portal meant for Covid Hospitals. “But instead of supplying the procured refills to eligible hospitals and healthcare centres Somnath sold the cylinders illegaly” the SSP added. Mullanpur Dakha DSP Gurbans Singh Bains said the police was yet to ascertain the identity of other accomplices if any. “We will also verify if the gas meant for medical use was supplied for industrial purposes as well” said the DSP.

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