On Wednesday, Times of India journalist Deepak Lavania took to Twitter to share a video claiming that a man begged the police to not take away the cylinder he had arranged for his mother. He claimed that the police confiscated the oxygen cylinder from private hospital in Agra and ‘supplied it to a VIP’. He claimed that the incident took place on Tuesday evening.
In subsequent tweet, he claimed that the man and his mother who was in critical condition are no longer ‘traceable’.
However, the UP Police has refuted the claims.
उपाध्याय हॉस्पिटल के वायरल वीडियो, ऑक्सीजन की समस्या से ग्रसित व्यक्ति, खाली सिलेंडर को ले जाकर भरवाने की कोशिश व 1 व्यक्ति द्वारा पुलिस से सहायता हेतु सिलेंडर की मांग दर्शाते हुए, भ्रामक तरीके से पोस्ट किए गए वीडियो के खंडन के संबंध में #SPCityAgra द्वारा दी गई बाइट। @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/XSvvbn11kC
— AGRA POLICE (@agrapolice) April 28, 2021
In a byte, SP Agra said, that the above video is of Upadhyay Hospital. Due to shortage of oxygen cylinders in Agra few days back, some people were giving away their personal cylinders to hospitals for the treatment of the loved ones. The two people who are taking away the cylinder are actually taking away an empty cylinder. The man seen requesting the police is a kin of a COVID patient and was actually asking the cops to help him procure a cylinder for his mother.
Fake news amid COVID crisis
Earlier this week, a message had gone viral on social media which claimed that a girl from Ghaziabad had donated Rs 5,000 from her piggy bank to PM CARES fund but had herself died waiting for oxygen. However, the girl’s father revealed that his daughter is alive and healthy and discharged from hospital.
Amid the second wave of Chinese coronavirus pandemic, there has been an oxygen supply crisis in India. However, the same is being resolved as plants are diverted and making oxygen while India has also imported cryogenic tanks to help transport the oxygen across India. Indian Railways is also running special trains ‘Oxygen Express’ and the IAF has been airlifting oxygen to help resolve the crisis.
