Ghaziabad, Apr 30 (PTI) A man has been arrested for allegedly selling empty oxygen cylinders at exorbitant prices to people who would get it filled elsewhere amid a shortage of the life-saving gas due to surge in COVID-19 cases, police here said on Friday.

As many as 638 empty cylinders have been seized from the factory premises in Sahibabad site-4 industrial area, they said.

The arrested accused, Sameer, a resident of Shahdara in Delhi, has confessed that he was selling empty cylinders at Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000, SSP Amit Pathak said.

The owner of the factory, Jai Gopal Mehta of Preet Vihar Colony in Delhi is on the run, he said.

A case under the Essential Commodities Act has been registered and a hunt is on to nab the owner of the factory, Pathak added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)