848 kgs of used surgical hand gloves seized from 2 Delhi godowns, 3 held
On May 4-5, three men were arrested after a raid at a factory in Tronica City in Ghaziabad led to the recovery of used and recycled surgical gloves.
Nearly 848 kilograms of used surgical gloves have been seized from two godowns in southwest Delhi’s Dabri, the police said after arresting three men, including a resident of Kerala, who were involved in the illegal business of its recycling and resale. They collected used surgical gloves from scrap dealers, washed them, and packed them in new boxes before reselling them as unused ones, the police said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Arun Shriniwasan, 36-year-old Kerala resident, Manish Kumar,30, and Dinesh Kumar Rajput,28, both from Delhi. They were caught on Tuesday and booked for disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant and negligent act, likely to spread infection of [a] disease dangerous to life. All three were later released on bail, the police said.
This is the second such seizure this month in Delhi-NCR. On May 4-5, three men were arrested after a raid at a factory in Tronica City in Ghaziabad led to the recovery of used and recycled surgical gloves. Ninety-eight gunny bags containing used surgical gloves and 60 with washed gloves inside were seized. As many as 800 packing boxes, three washing machines, one dryer and some chemicals were also seized.
In the latest operation, the Dabri police station on Tuesday received inputs about a godown in Chanakya Place in Dabri being used for illegal activity. A team raided the godown and caught one person with such used gloves. His questioning led the police to another godown in Badri where two more men were caught with similar items.
Around 848 kgs of used surgical gloves were recovered from both the godowns. Keeping in view the health hazard, and the possibility of these gloves having been used in Covid hospital, the seized materials were sealed in the godown itself, said a police officer, who was part of the raiding team.
“The arrested persons disclosed that the deliveries of the used surgical gloves were made to them by various scrap dealers, who collected the protective medical equipment from hospitals in Delhi-NCR. The usable gloves were further washed and packed in new packets while the torn ones were discarded in drains. The packets were further sold in markets,” the officer added.
Police said the arrested men disclosed that they were making some quick money amid a high demand for such protective medical equipment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.