Man steals ambulance, apprehended by police after 100 km chase in Telangana

Hyderabad: A 50-year-old man who stole an ambulance from Hayath Nagar near here on Saturday was chased and apprehended after a pursuit of about 100 km in Nalgonda district of Telangana, police said.

The man who seems to be “mentally unstable” stole the vehicle that belonged to ‘108’ ambulance service, from a hospital in the morning and drove it on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway with its siren blaring, they said.

An Assistant Sub-Inspector was injured during the chase as the ambulance hit his vehicle while being intercepted at Chityala, police said. The ASI has been shifted to hospital, they added.

Police personnel of different police stations along the route – after being alerted about the ambulance theft – chased it. The accused was finally taken into custody after he hit the railing after crossing a toll plaza and the ambulance fell in the roadside ‘nala’, police said.

A video showing the ambulance being driven past lorries set up as roadblocks near a toll plaza was circulated on social media.

The accused who suffered injuries was taken to a hospital, a police official said. He seems to be disturbed and is behaving weirdly, he said based on the preliminary investigation. Police were investigating if he was involved in similar offences earlier.

The man stole the ambulance from a hospital when its driver and technician went inside the hospital to admit a patient (accident victim), the official said. A case was registered. Further investigation is on.