Ambulance drivers misuse exemption, ferry commuters instead of patients

Hyderabad: Flouting government orders, some ambulance drivers are ferrying people under the guise of patients in the city.

Police said during vehicle checking cops intercepted an ambulance proceeding towards Nalgonda. Ambulance driver Mohd Mujib told police that he was transporting patients from Kamineni hospital to their home in Nalgonda.

However, none of them had any documents. Further inquiries revealed that taking advantage of relaxation to ambulances, Mujib picked up six persons from LB Nagar, X roads and offered to drop them at Nalgonda charging them Rs 100 each.

In another incident, an ambulance was intercepted at Kodad on the state border in the Suryapet district. During checking, police found as many as eight persons cramped in the vehicle. They were being transported to the town from the state border.

Police said though ambulances are exempted, they will also be checked thoroughly given the incidents of misuse. The Telangana government on Sunday exempted ambulances, goods carriers and vehicles carrying medicines, commodities, vegetables and other essential supplies from the lockdown.