Man in UP carries dead brother on two-wheeler as ambulance driver demands Rs 1500

Agra: A man from Soro area in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh was forced to carry the corpse of his elder brother on a bike, after the driver of a government-run ambulance at the district hospital demanded a bribe of Rs 1,500 to carry the dead body.

Omkar, brother of the deceased was unable to pay the bribe and had to carry the body on a two-wheeler.

According to Omkar, “Raespal was suffering from tuberculosis. He was not able to breathe. We took him to Soro local community health center, where the doctors saw his critical condition and referred him to the district hospital in the government ambulance.”

“On reaching the hospital, the doctors declared him brought dead, after which when we asked the ambulance driver to take us back to Soro, he demanded Rs 1,500 cash as bribe,” he added.

But district magistrate, K Vijayendra Pandian of Kasganj told a different story. "None of the relatives of the victim enquired about the government ambulance at the district hospital. The relatives directly went to a private ambulance driver, negotiated money and took the deceased man’s body to their village. There was government ambulances available at the hospital at night.”

“At present there are no hearse vehicles in the district to carry dead bodies,” he added.