Mumbai, March 25: Acting to curb hoarding of essential items amid rising COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, police raided a godown in the city and seized four lakh masks, valued at Rs one crore, an official said on Wednesday. The raid was conducted at the Shah Warehousing and Transport Godown in suburban Mumbai, the official said.

The Vile Parle Police received information on Tuesday night that a large quantity of face masks was stored in the warehouse. Police reached the spot and found 200 boxes of face masks valued at around Rs one crore, the official said. Reliance to Raise Face Mask Production Capacity, Free Fuel to Emergency Vehicles Carrying Covid-19 Patients.

Police registered an FIR against five people including owner of the godown, agent and supplier at the Sahar police station but no arrest have been made, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Manjunath Singhe said legal action is being taken against the five. Hoarding of essential items like face masks and sanitizers is an offence, he added. On Monday evening, the Mumbai crime branch Unit 9 had seized 25 lakh high-quality masks worth Rs 15 crore.