It was 'hearse van,' not ambulance that was held up for CM's convoy

The city traffic police, who tracked down the ambulance that got stuck in the traffic on J C Road while the chief minister’s convoy was heading to Ravindra Kalashektra for Bhagiratha Jayanti on May 2, have found that the vehicle was ferrying the body of a woman to her native place in Tumakuru district.

The woman from Kunigal was declared brought dead by doctors at Jayadeva Hospital. The ambulance driver Devaraj has been arrested for creating chaos by switching on blaring sirens and flash-lights of the ambulance when he was transporting a body. Devaraj, a resident of Srirampuram has been booked for violation of permit rules as well as driving in a rash and negligent manner, the police said.

The incident created a furore blaming VIP culture as well as debates over right to way for ambulances. After the incident that also made Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to state that he was unaware of an ambulance getting blocked due to his convoy movement, the Halsuru Gate police tracked down the ambulance on the basis of CCTV footage. They found out that it was not an ambulance, but a hearse van, the police said.

They then questioned the driver and he confirmed that he was ferrying a body. “The deceased woman, aged around 60, was Huchamma, mother of the ambulance owner and aunt of Devaraj. We also verified the time when she was declared dead at Jayadeva Hospital, which was around 5 pm,” said Nataraj,  ACP (Traffic Central).

Huchamma was brought to Jayadeva hospital where an ECG was performed, which confirmed that she was dead. The body was then taken in Devaraj’s hearse van to Kunigal via J C Road where the traffic was held up for a few minutes,” Nataraj added.

While ferrying bodies, ambulance drivers should not switch on sirens or flash-lights which attracts unnecessary attention and cause inconveniences to others, the officer said.