COVID-19: 2 held for selling fire extinguisher instead of oxygen cylinder to Delhi woman

New Delhi: Two people were arrested here on Thursday for allegedly cheating a woman by selling her a fire extinguisher instead of an oxygen cylinder which she needed for her COVID-19 positive relative, police said.

Ashutosh (19) and Ayush (22), residents of Vikaspuri, were arrested from west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar area and five fire extinguishers were seized from them. They were selling each fire extinguisher as oxygen cylinder for Rs 10,000, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena said the complainant Geeta Arora, a resident of Shishram Park, Bindapur, alleged that two people sold her a fire extinguisher in place of an oxygen cylinder.

Her relative was suffering from COVID-19 and was having difficulty in breathing due to low oxygen levels, police said. In a bid to arrange an oxygen cylinder, she came in contact with the accused, who duped her, police said.

When she contacted them and demanded her money back, they stopped receiving her phone calls, the DCP said.

Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at Uttam Nagar Police Station, they said.

On the basis of a tip-off, a joint team of special staff and Uttam Nagar Police Station arrested the accused on Thursday, Meena said.