Bail plea of man facing black marketing charges dismissed

Mahesh Sharma

Raikot, May 18

A Jagraon court today dismissed the bail plea of a resident of Akalgarh Sadhar, who is a gas agency owner facing criminal charges of fraud for black marketing of medical oxygen.

The accused, Som Nath, was booked by the Sadhar police under Sections 420, 188 and 120B of the IPC; Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 51 of the National Disaster Management Act on the complaint of Balbir Singh of Toosa village two weeks back.

Som Nath was found charging Rs 15,000 for an oxygen cylinder, which is usually sold for Rs 300 approximately.

The court disagreed with the counsel of the applicant that recovery of oxygen cylinders had already been made and the accused was no longer needed by the police. Agreeing with the public prosecutor, Jagraon JMIC Simarjit Singh observed that the accused had committed a grave offence and was not entitled for the bail.