Delhi Police raids Navneet Kalra-owned popular restaurants- Khan Chacha, Town Hall, and Nege Ju, bust Oxygen Concentrator Racket.
Byline By- Vinayak Heliwal
Delhi has been struggling very badly with the oxygen crisis in the aftermath of the Second wave that hit India a month ago. Hospitals have continued putting out SOS alerts to announce that they have run out of oxygen as critical patients and their families are seen regularly queued at different oxygen refiling centres.
Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal led government has been in a long tussle with the central government to meet their increasing demands of oxygen.
Amidst these unfortunate instances, on Friday, Delhi police have recovered almost a hundred oxygen concentrators at a popular restaurant called ‘Khan Chacha’
According to police, almost a hundred concentrators were recovered from Khan Chacha Restaurant, known for its melt-in-the-mouth kebabs, and nine were seized from Town Hall restaurant which specializes in pan Asian cuisine in the Khan Market area. These concentrators were being sold in the black market, said police.
Notably, the common thread connecting both the food outlet in Delhi is Navneet Kalra. Navneet Kalra is a well-known businessman who owns these eateries where these oxygen concentrators were found in the raid.
The recovery of oxygen concentrator and raids began, days after the arrest of four men – Gaurav, Satish Sethi, Vikrant, and Hitesh from a restaurant cum bar in the south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area who were allegedly involved in hoarding and black marketing oxygen concentrators.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Kumar Thakur said Navneet Kalra is the owner of the restaurant and his mobile phone is switched off and he is currently absconding.
“These oxygen concentrators with a capacity of 5 to 9 litres were imported from China at prices ranging between Rs 16,000 and Rs 20,000 and were sold at exorbitant prices of Rs 60,000 to Rs 71,000 to those in need,” the DCP said.
“The imports had started in October last year and in February this year, as demand soared, more were brought in. All those involved in hoarding, storage, distribution, and black-marketing of these oxygen concentrators will be probed. Further investigation is underway,” he added.
“In the recent consignment, 650 oxygen concentrators were imported, out of which 120 have been sold,” the DCP said.
“We will be questioning Mr. Kalra soon,” said DCP South Atul Thakur.
For the unversed Navneet Kalra is a renowned Delhi-based Businessman who has a lavish lifestyle and quite a regular face on Page 3. : On his social media platforms, Kalra has posted several pictures with celebrities, politicians, and other sports personalities who visit his Delhi restaurants such as Town Hall, Mr. Choy, Nege and Ju, and the infamous Khan Chacha.