Private ambulance carrying 5-month-old baby attacked by miscreants in Bengaluru: Report

A private ambulance driver en route to a hospital with a critically ill infant was assaulted by allegedly intoxicated individuals near a toll plaza in Bengaluru

Late on Sunday night in Bengaluru, a distressing incident unfolded as a private ambulance, racing to Vani Vilas Hospital with a critically ill five-month-old baby on oxygen, was ambushed near Nelamangala toll plaza. The perpetrators, allegedly inebriated, recklessly pursued the ambulance for several kilometres before cornering it at the toll plaza, India Today reported.

Despite the nature of the medical emergency, the attackers were unmoved and mercilessly assaulted the ambulance driver.(X)

Despite the nature of the medical emergency, the attackers, unmoved by the pleas of the child's parents, mercilessly assaulted the ambulance driver, identified as John, right under the watch of police officers stationed at the plaza. A video of the incident was shared by several media outlets on social media.

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The video, capturing the assault depicts the assailants aggressively attacking the driver, ignoring the desperate appeals for mercy. In the face of this horrifying ordeal, John later said the attackers appeared to be under the influence of alcohol during the assault, the report said. Swift police intervention ultimately quelled the violence, allowing the ambulance to proceed to the hospital and ensuring the safety of its occupants.

"An ambulance driver was driving his vehicle fast and overtook an Innova car. The people in the Innova opposed him overtaking the vehicle. Near the Nelamangala toll, people in Innova took over the ambulance and assaulted the driver. We have registered an FIR and are investigating further. We will find in inquiry if they were inebriated state when they were driving the vehicle," Bengaluru Rural SP Mallikarjun Baldandi said, as quoted by the publication.

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The opposition BJP in the state was quick to hit out at authorities over the matter. “The rampage of thugs, shielding of influencers for extortion, unprovoked murders, all these are common in the @INCKarnataka regime. Even if you drive drunk in broad daylight on the roads of the state, the police will not stop you! The hooligans who beat up the driver while blocking the ambulance itself shows how anarchy is rampant,” the Karnataka unit of the BJP wrote on ‘X’.

“Home Minister @DrParameshwara, do you even remember that you are the home minister of the state? So far your role was limited to making a statement. Even that seems to have stopped now. #CongressFailsKarnataka,” they added.