KAVRE, JULY 16

Police have impounded an ambulance that was allegedly carrying fake patients as its passenger.

According to Kavrepalanchowk District Police Office, Jugatlal Mahato, the driver of the ambulance with registration number Ba 5 Cha 8638, was held today morning from Sanga in Kavrepalanchowk.

The arrested is a resident of Chandranagar Rural Municipality-3, in Sarlahi district.

The ambulance belongs to Social Development and Environment Conservation Association, Babargunj, in Sarlahi. DSP Kumar Bikram Thapa said police nabbed the ambulance driver for misusing the facility by carrying fake patients. “There were altogether eight passengers in the ambulance.

When we interrogated them, we found out that they were masquerading as patients,” said DSP Thapa. The driver and the passengers have been sent to Sarlahi district for necessary action.

The government has eased the lockdown since June 15, allowing private vehicles to ply the roads on the basis of even-odd number plates. However, essential services such as fire brigade, ambulances and other essential supplies were permitted at the times of strict lockdown enforcement.

It has also been revealed that the ambulance driver had charged the passengers Rs 14,000 in total as fare from Sarlahi to Kathmandu. The arrested has been sent to custody. Further investigation into the case is under way, said police.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 17, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.