Criminal cases were registered against four medical shops in Hyderabad for selling masks at exorbitant prices, as a confirmed case of coronavirus in the city saw many scrambling to buy the masks as a safety measure.
In the first case, the Kukatpally police booked Maruthi Medical Shop and Sri Sai Medical and General Store, both in Balaji Nagar, under Section 420 (Cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In the second case, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered in the Bachupally police station against Medplus store in Pragathi Nagar, an Apollo pharmacy at Nizampet and a mobile shop in the same area, for the hiking mask prices, under Section 420 of the IPC.
Both cases were registered after complaints by Forum Against Corruption (FAC) Vice President Sai Teja.
Speaking to TNM, Teja said, "I filed the first complaint at 5 pm on March 7 and the second complaint at 9 pm the same day. I even went to MedPlus and Apollo pharmacy, because they are branded stores and I expected them to follow the rules. However, even the staff at the outlet were indulging in overpricing."
"There are two types of masks that are being sold. One is supposed to sell for Rs 5, while the other one costs Rs 15. Instead, medical stores are selling these masks at up to Rs 70 and Rs 150, to cash in on the panic due to the coronavirus. This is completely unethical," he added.
Meanwhile, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) also conducted raids and issued challans to a few shops that were violating the rules.
Last week, Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender said that they would conduct a crackdown on medical stores and retailers who were hiking the price of masks due to the coronavirus scare, and said that those who were indulging in this, were "scrounging for puffed rice on dead bodies."
“We have already instructed the drug inspectors to seize stores which are selling the masks at exorbitant rates and file criminal cases against them,” he told reporters.