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Delhi Police have failed to file a chargesheet even after nearly nine months of their investigation into the Navneet Kalra case of alleged black marketing of oxygen concentrators during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The irony is, the country is currently staring at a possible third wave of the pandemic, and an accused in such an 'inhumane crime' during the pandemic is yet to get a closure in the case. Kalra, a high-profile Delhi-based businessman, was accused of hoarding oxygen cylinders in Khan Market and selling them at high prices amid the devastating second of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Currently, we don't have any update in the case," said a source in the Delhi Police as IANS enquired about the chargesheet. In May 2021, when the second wave struck the country, Kalra remained the talk of town for over two months. During multiple raids, the Delhi Police had recovered a total of 524 oxygen concentrators from three restaurants -- Khan Chacha, Town Hall, and Nege & Ju. Khan Chacha is known for its melt-in-the mouth kebabs, while Town Hall specialises in pan Asian cuisine. The officials said that the concentrators recovered from there were being sold in the black market. Sources said the oxygen concentrators were being imported from China since October 2020 for as low as Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000 and were being sold via online portals and WhatsApp for Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000. All the aforementioned restaurants were owned by Navneet Kalra. On May 5, a case was registered against Kalra under Sections 420 (cheating), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as the Essential Commodities Act and Epidemic Diseases Act. As the probe widened, Kalra was arrested by the Delhi Police on May 17 from his brother-in-law's farmhouse in Gurugram, and then remanded to three days' police custody. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too registered a case of money laundering against the accused businessman. Kalra was subsequently granted bail by a Delhi court on May 29, even though the Delhi Police strongly opposed the same in the court. IANS also contacted Kalra's lawyer, enquiring if any chargesheet has been filed by the Delhi Police, to which he said he is not aware of any such development in the case. (Ujwal Jalali can reached at ujwal.j@ians.in) --IANS uj/arm ( 412 Words) 2021-12-15-21:00:23 (IANS)
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