Farmers Movement Archive

Used gloves being sold as new; 6 arrested for racket

Delhi Police have seized 4,800 kilograms of surgical gloves from several scrap shops in south-west and outer Delhi between May 25-30, blowing the lid off a racket in which scamsters would pick up used gloves, wash them, repackage them, and then sell them, posing a potential public health risk.Six men, including a scrap dealer, have been arrested and the police suspect that the gang may have links with some hospitals and the government-approved vendors or companies involved in the collection and disposal of bio-medical waste.“Interrogation of the arrested persons has helped us identify a man who supplied used gloves to them. Our teams are conducting raids to nab him. His interrogation may lead us to bust the chain through which used gloves from hospitals or from the vendors authorised for discarding bio-medical waste were sourced by the gang members,” said a police officer involved with the investigation.Police officers said that the arrested scrap dealer, Lal Dass alias Lalu, told them that he purchased used gloves in bulk from the suspect (who is still absconding) at a rate ranging between ₹25 and ₹35 per kilogram, depending upon the quality and colour of the gloves. Lalu sold the gloves to the other arrested persons for ₹45 and ₹55 per kg. They washed, dried and repackaged the gloves in new boxes and sold them in the market with a profit margin between ₹100 and ₹120 per kg. The cost of one box of surgical gloves in the local market is between ₹200 and ₹400, depending upon the quality and brand.Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), Santosh Kumar Meena, said the first recovery of 848 kilograms of used gloves was made from two godowns in south-west Delhi’s Dabri and Bindapur on May 25, and three men were arrested. They were allegedly involved in washing, drying and repackaging used surgical gloves in the godowns. They also sold those gloves in the market.Police said the interrogation of the three accused led to further raids in a scrap market in Hiran Kudna near Mundka, from where 2,150kg of used gloves kept in plastic drums were seized on May 28. Two men were arrested during the raid. Their interrogation led to the arrest of Lalu and the recovery of 1,800 kg of used gloves from a godown in PVC market in Tikri Kalan, near Mundka, on May 30.Experts and medical professionals said that such a racket could not be run without the connivance of retailers and hospitals selling or using these gloves. They said it was not only a violation of the rules of disposal of biomedical waste but also posed a risk to the health of doctors and patients.Dr. Sumant Sinha, an officebearer of the Delhi Medical Association, said biomedical waste is collected from hospitals by government-approved vendors, and has to be dumped at designated sites for disposal. “The used gloves are shredded in machines and then autoclaved at a 130-140 degrees Celsius in special machines. The autoclaved plastic waste is washed and supplied to companies that recycle plastic waste and use them to make new plastic items,” he said.Dr. Avinder Sabharwal, owner of Jeewan Hospital in Maharani Bagh, said hospitals have their biomedical waste management systems and colour-coding instructions for segregating used gloves, masks, and other medical waste. “In no way should used should reach any scrap dealer. Using a discarded pair of gloves may cause serious infections and other diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B to patients, especially those undergoing surgery,” said Sabharwal.All the six arrested were booked under sections 188, 269 and 440 of the Indian Penal Code. They were later released on bail, police said.

Hindustan Times

03-06-2021

Delhi