Bengaluru police raid 200-plus medicine shops charging more for masks and hand sanitizers

The police also booked cases against many pharmacies for allegedly selling the essential medical items 2-3 times over the MRP.

IANS

Over 200 medical shops were raided in Bengaluru for allegedly selling masks and hand sanitizers at exorbitant prices, cashing in on soaring demand due to coronavirus outbreak, police said on Sunday. "On complaints from the public, we raided about 210 drug shops across the city on Saturday and stocks seized for selling masks and sanitizers at twice or thrice the retail price," Bengaluru crime branch deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Kuldeep Jain told IANS. The police also booked cases against many pharmacies for allegedly selling the essential medical items 2-3 times over the maximum retail price (MRP). "Though we have not come across any fake unit making them, in the city or state, we have seized about 250 bottles of sanitizers, suspected to be fake from a storage place. We sent the bottles to the lab for tests to check if they are genuine for use," said Jain. "Five shops across the city were also shut for selling the sanitizer liquid bottles illegally and at high cost, added Jain. A special drive has been initiated across the city to check and regulate supply of masks and sanitizers to retailers, which have been selling them at higher rates due to their shortage amid rising demand. "Most masks and sanitizers being sold in the city are from units outside Karnataka but available through their dealer network. No facility yet to make them in the state in the organized sector," a health official said. Incidentally, the union government in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak pn Friday had invoked the Disaster Management Act and declared masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities for the next 100 days. This step was taken as a bid to stop hoarding which was reported across the country. In a statement, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said, ““Government has notified an order under the Essential Commodities Act to declare these items as essential commodities up to June 30, 2020, by amending the schedule of the Essential Commodities Act 1955.” It added, ““It will enhance the availability of both the items to the general people at reasonable prices or underP (maximum retail price).”  

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