Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested a Kalwa resident, Rinku Navin Thayil from Andheri and seized 90,000 three-ply masks worth ₹22.5 lakh from her. As per the police, Thayil had stocked them up to sell the masks in black. Officials informed that the arrest was made on Tuesday as a part of a drive against black-marketing of face-masks and sanitisers amid the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
A police official said that last week they had held five people in Dharavi and had seized 2.97 lakh masks worth ₹75 lakh from them. When investigated, they spilled the beans on Thayil who was caught by the police on Tuesday.
When apprehended, Thayil told the police that her family was facing a financial crisis after her husband's business crashed. She has been booked by the police under the sections of the Essential Commodities Act.
In other news, Maharashtra will now produce up to 2 lakh litres of hand sanitizers daily as the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has given the approval to distilleries and sugar factories for production.
Some of the sugar factories in the state including Vasantdada Patil Cooperative Sugar Factory in Sangli, Rajarambapu Cooperative Sugar Factory in Islampur and Kolhapur Cooperative Sugar Factory have already scaled up production and launched the supply of hand sanitizers.
The move will not only help meet the demand of the hand sanitizers in the market but also bring down the sale of adulterated hand sanitizers. Pawar had said that the government is taking strict action against the people involved in the sale of adulterated hand sanitizers and its black marketing and hoarding.
That being said, the students and the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay) have also prepared masks using basic household items and a portable UV (ultraviolet) sanitiser for sterilisation. The portable sanitiser can be used to sterilise wallets, purses and small items of daily use.
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