After residents of Kolkata complained about the non-availability of the N95 masks in the city amidst Coronavirus scare, Kolkata Police’s Enforcement Branch paid a visit to the medicine markets aiming to crack down on the hoarders.

On Friday and Saturday, officers of Kolkata Police’s Enforcement Branch visited the medicine markets and raided the chemist shops besides carrying out searches to find whether any shopkeeper was holding on to the stocks.

However, senior officials of Kolkata Police later highlighted that the stocks of N95 masks were short in supply and none in the city were found hoarding N95 masks.

“During raids the availability of the masks, prices of both disposable and reusable masks were checked. There are some signs of a shortage of masks in the market. Bills of purchases were checked too. The owners or the proprietors of the medicine stores were contacted and they were asked to sell the masks at reasonable prices. Raids would be continued. All the traders were directed to sell those masks in reasonable prices and not to take excessive rate by hoarding the same. We will maintain a sharp vigil on the medicine shops,” said a senior official of Enforcement Branch, Kolkata Police.

On Friday, the raids were conducted at Mehta Building, Bagri Market, Chittaranjan Avenue, College Street, vicinity of RG Kar Hospital and SSKM hospital.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee chaired a high-level meeting on Coronavirus on Saturday, where she directed the police and other agencies to ensure that traders do not hoard masks leading to a panic and rise in prices of the same.