On Tuesday, the crime branch of Bengaluru said that they have seized close to 12,000 N95 masks which were fake and made by the anti-social elements of the society are looking to make profits at times like this when the whole nation has come together to fight against the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Payil, in a tweet said, “CCB conducts raid(s) & seize(d) 12 thousand fake N95 masks..accused makes masks with normal cloth and puts fake N95 seal and sells it at high price as N95 masks..Will weed out such anti socials who try to prey in this hour of crisis,”.
CCB conducts raid & seize 12 thousand fake N95 masks..accused makes masks with normal cloth and puts fake N95 seal and sells it at high price as N95 masks..Wil weed out such anti socials who try to prey in this hour of crisis.. pic.twitter.com/XBvmCCf5xN
— Sandeep Patil IPS (@ips_patil) March 31, 2020
The N95 masks are generally reusable and can be sold anywhere between Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000 on both physical shops and online platforms. The demand for such masks went up in recent weeks after the Coronavirus started spreading to other countries outside China.
Though the masks are necessary for people who have symptoms (even if mild) like cough and cold, as the virus can even spread through droplets, even the ordinary and virtually fit citizens, as precautions, are seen wearing these marks to avoid contracting the COVID-19.
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The raid conducted by the police personnel unearthed yet another racket of people who are trying to generate easy profits by making face safety equipmet like masks and sanitizers amongst others which have been in high demand in Bengaluru.
Across the city, the police raided shops which were selling sanitizers and masks at higher prices in the city.
On 20th March, in another post, Patil worte, “While everyone (is) doing their bit to tackle the coronavirus problem… few are misusing this terrible situation to make a quick buck… CCB raid 2 Godowns & seize 8500 FAKE SANITIZER bottles..2 accused arrested,” and added the pictures of the goods seized.
While everyone doing their bit to tackle the Coronavirus problem..there r few misusing this terrible situation to make a quick buck..CCB raid 2 Godowns & seize 8500 FAKE SANITIZER bottles..2 accused arrested.. pic.twitter.com/ZBlndZxLLp
— Sandeep Patil IPS (@ips_patil) March 20, 2020
Bengaluru has seen an increase in the major drug crimes in the recent week and it has only increased as people are now trying to make the most of the lockdown. India went under a 21-day lockdown on Wednesday last week to contain the spread of novel Coronavirus and minimise the Stage 3 which is Community Spread.
Globally, the novel COVID-19 has infected almost 8 lakh people and have claimed the lives of almost 38,000 people. In India, the impact is on a lower side thanks to the measures taken by the Governments and authorities, yet, more than 1,250 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country out of which 32 people have lost their lives.
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