The Punjabi Bagh police conducted a raid in the national capital and took two persons into custody for alleged black marketing of oxygen cylinders. The accused named in the case are Shrey Oberai and Abhishek Nanda. Upon interrogation by the police, Shrey revealed that he procured these oxygen cylinders for Rs 37,000 and further sold them to the people with the help of social media platforms for Rs 50,000 each, depending on the requirement of the customer.
The accused also revealed that oxygen cylinders were procured from his associate Abhishek, who has been dealing in providing these at Rs. 37,000. The police recovered four oxygen cylinders of capacity 10 litres each and one large size commercial oxygen cylinder. A case against both the accused has been registered and further investigation is underway. The second wave of COVID-19 has created turmoil in the country as there is an increased demand for medical oxygen and a shortage in its supply.
Meanwhile, India reported over 3.60 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases and close to 3,300 related deaths in the last 24 hours, its biggest single-day hike since the onset of the pandemic. A total of 3,60,960 new COVID-19 cases, 3,293 related deaths and 2,61,162 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours. Taking the total active cases to 29,78,709, as per the health ministry update on Wednesday morning. The total count of positive cases now stands at 1,79,97,267 whereas the death toll has soared up to 2,01,187 deaths. A total of 1,48,17,371 people have recovered so far from the disease.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), as many as 28,27,03,789 samples tested for COVID-19 up to April 27. Of these 17,23,912 samples tested on Tuesday. The total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered stand at over 14,78,27,367 crore, informed the health ministry.