Bengaluru: A video of an ambulance getting stuck at a traffic junction stopped for the Chief Minister's convoy to pass through on a busy highway in Hoskote snowballed into a major controversy on Wednesday after the video went viral on social media platforms picked up by sections of electronic media who slammed the VVIP culture.
The video footage courted controversy as it shows a few unidentified men and motorists pleading with the policemen to let the ambulance pass through, being rebuked by the cops who said they had to let the CM's convoy pass through first.
The footage that was uploaded on social media claimed that there was a woman in the ambulance who had a serious ailment and who died due to the delay in reaching the hospital and the man who was pleading to the police was her son, sections of the media and social networking platforms claimed.
The incident reportedly happened on Saturday, June 25 at the Maalur flyover junction in Hoskote at around 9.00 pm when CM Siddaramaiah's convoy was on its way from Chintamani to Bengaluru city.
No woman died, says police
Inspector General of Police (Central Range) Seemant Kumar Singh and Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural Amit Singh conducted an inquiry into the incident and rubbished the fact that there was an ailing woman inside the ambulance who died due to delay in reaching the hospital.
"It was true that a 108 ambulance was stuck in the traffic that was stopped for CM's convoy, but that was only a matter of 2-3 minutes and the patient inside was stable. The ambulance passed through in a matter of minutes after the convoy had passed," Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters.
"The Narasapura based ambulance was shifting Naveen Kumar, 32, a resident of Kolar from Jallappa Hospital to Hosmat Hospital as per his treating physician's referral. Naveen was a victim of a road traffic accident and he had suffered head injuries," Mr. Singh added.
"As claimed in the media, there was no ailing woman inside the ambulance except for Naveen Kumar's wife Lakshmi who accompanied Naveen to Hosmat Hospital. Naveen's condition has improved and he was even discharged from Hosmat Hospital on Wednesday, and all what was claimed along with the video uploaded on social media platforms were false, baseless and factually incorrect," Mr. Singh stated adding "a probe is underway to ascertain who uploaded the video and what was their motive, and if the cops find any mischief, they will take stringent action against them."
According to sources, the Hoskote police had stopped busy traffic on the Kolar-Bengaluru highway at the Malur flyover junction using barricades for the CM's convoy to pass through. Meanwhile, a 108 ambulance got stuck in the traffic with a patient inside.
Bystanders and motorists were seen pleading with the police to allow the ambulance to pass through. There were several of them taking videos when the men were pleading.
In the video, one of them is even seen pushing the barricade down so that the vehicles can pass through leaving space for the ambulance, but the police pushed them back.
Motorists and bystanders at the junction claimed that they were stopped by the police for over 15 to 20 minutes before the CM's convoy came through. In one of the videos there were motorists seen yelling at the CM's convoy in frustration when it passed by.
Who’s the man in this picture?
For further clarification, the police had also brought along the Emergency Medical Technician Lakshman, who was present inside the ambulance assisting the patient when it got stuck in the traffic at Malur Junction before the CM's convoy passed.
“We received a case from a private hospital in Kolar to be shifted to Hosmat Hospital in Bengaluru. The patient, Naveen Kumar, had suffered head injuries and was stable enough to be shifted to Hosmat. I saw traffic piled up on the highway and usually this happens when there’s an accident. When I got down to check, the CM’s convoy passed and slowly the traffic started moving in about 2-3 minutes," Lakshman said.
Netizens flay VIP culture
Thousands of netizens on Wednesday took to social media and expressed anguish over the issue. Criticism started pouring in after the video, reportedly shot by a passerby identified as Chandru S Samsung, went viral on the net. The video got more than 5,000 shares and over 2,000 comments.
Netizens took to Facebook and voiced against VVIP Culture -
Chandru S Samsung : ?#?cm ?#?Siddaramaiah why your doing such a big problem to people in ?#?hoskote?#?bangloretochennai here the person was trying save his mom to go to hospital, but because of you he might have ?#?not ?#?been ?#?able to ?#?save ?#?his ?#?mom. because of only you he might have lost his mom . Please don't do this mistake in life again. Please use things which are given by the ?#?government in favour of public not against ?#?public.
