New Delhi: The owner of an ambulance service company has been arrested for allegedly charging Rs 1.20 lakh to shift a patient to a hospital, the police said on Friday.
The patient travelled from DLF Gurugram to Ludhiana on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Delhi Police, acting on the specific information, the Inder Puri police station team nabbed the accused Mimoh Kumar Bundwal, who was running an ambulance service company in the name of Cardiacare ambulance Pvt Ltd and was looting needy people by charging two to three times above the actual rent for transportation of Covid-19 patients in his ambulances.
Read:| Ambulance driver bills patient Rs 1,20,000
During the investigation, it was revealed that he was in this profiteering business for the last one month and has cheated numerous people.
"The accused himself is an MBBS doctor who is involved in the ambulance business for the last 2 years," the police said.
During the investigation, the bank account of the ambulance service company was also obtained and is being analyzed. The accused has returned the cheated money to the victim after being nabbed by the police.
The police have also seized one ambulance given by him to numerous patients over the last one month in the case.
"My mother is COVID-19 positive and was in very critical condition. We were not getting a bed in Delhi-NCR, Gurugram and Faridabad. So we came to know about one hospital in Ludhiana where there was one empty bed. We contacted them and gave all the details about my mother's condition and they agreed to take her. So we looked for the ambulance but no one has the oxygen and I needed an ambulance with an oxygen supply," said Amandeep Kaur, the patient's daughter.
"In the end, I contacted the Cardiacare ambulance service and they agreed to go but they asked Rs 1.40 lakh. Later when I told them that I have my own oxygen cylinder then they said that they will take Rs 1.20 lakh," Kaur said.
Read:| Two held including ambulance driver for black marketing oxygen cylinders in Delhi
She said that the ambulance driver took 20,000 initial amount in cash from her and later her husband transferred 95 thousand to their bank account.
"Later, when I reached here one of my friends circulated the bill on social media and at the end reached to Human Rights department in Ludhiana and investigation started. I have also complained to Delhi's Inder Puri police station," she added.
A case has been registered under section 420 Indian Penal Code (IPC) in Inder Puri police station.
Further investigation is in progress.
(with agency inputs)
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