Navneet Kalra, the owner of some of Delhi’s most famous restaurants was remanded to three days’ police custody by the Saket Court in the oxygen concentrator (OC) hoarding case. The Delhi Police Crime Branch produced Kalra before the court via video conferencing on Monday and sought his police custody which was granted by the Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal.  Kalra was arrested from his brother-in-law’s farmhouse in Gurugram on Sunday night and will now be produced before the court on May 20.

During the hearing, the Delhi Police Investigating Officer (IO) Kamal Kumar asserted that Kalra’s custodial interrogation was required to unearth the whole conspiracy and the money trail.

During the proceedings, Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told the court that Kalra has to be confronted with the co-accused and that the documents pertaining to the case were voluminous, for which his custody was required.

“It is a case of conspiracy. He had been evading arrest. This is a serious case. Without police custody, it will be impossible for the investigating agency to reach the conclusion,” the prosecutor said. 

Opposing the police custody, Kalra’s counsel said that his bank details, mobile phone, laptop and gadgets were already available with the police and that his custodial interrogation was not required.

“Remand must be granted only in cases of real necessity. For what purpose do they need custody? They need to know the trail? They can get any information they want from me. Request for the police remand is absurd,” the counsel added.

It was also requested that Kalra be allowed to receive treatment at Medanta for stitches in his fractured jaw.

Kalra was on the run for over a week since the seizure of more than 500 OCs from his three restaurants, Khan Chacha, Townhall and Nege Ju in Khan Market and from Khullar’s farmhouse in Chattarpur.

OCs are crucial in the treatment of Covid-19 patients and are in high demand amid the second wave of the pandemic.

The district court had rejected Kalra’s anticipatory bail plea on May 13, saying that the allegations against the businessman were serious and his custodial interrogation was required to “unearth the entire conspiracy” behind the hoarding of the OCs.

Pursuant to this, the accused had moved the Delhi High Court, which also declined to grant him interim protection from arrest in the case, agreeing with the reasons given by the trial court while denying him the relief.