Limping in, speeding off: 'Patient' takes ambulance to hospital, flees with nurse's scooty

BHOPAL: In a plot worthy of a Bollywood thriller, a man in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh faked a dramatic accident, summoned an ambulance, posed as a patient at a govt hospital and rode off on a nurse's scooter - all captured on security cameras that have now drawn scrutiny to the ambulance crew as well.

The episode unfolded Wednesday at the Dhanpuri community health centre, where the man arrived in a 108 emergency ambulance, feigning severe injury. Surveillance footage showed him limping from the vehicle and mingling with hospital staff as if in need of urgent care. But within minutes, the ruse collapsed: He walked normally out of the building, scanned the parking area, located a scooter belonging to an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) on duty, started it effortlessly and sped away without drawing attention.

The sheer audacity stunned hospital officials and investigators alike. The scooter had been parked on the premises during the nurse's shift. When it vanished, officials reviewed the CCTV footage, which exposed the bizarre sequence and showed the ambulance departing shortly after the theft.

"We are also seeking details from ambulance service providers," the in-charge officer at Dhanpuri police station, Khem Singh Pendro, told TOI. He said raids were under way at suspected hideouts, but the man remained at large.

Police said they have identified the suspect and are hunting him down. They are also questioning the ambulance driver and probing whether there was any collusion that enabled the smoothly executed theft. The case has raised questions about vulnerabilities at public health facilities and the oversight of emergency services.
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