In a shocking incident from Hyderabad, the Chotuppal Traffic Police on Tuesday booked two ambulance drivers for driving in a highly intoxicated condition.
The drivers, identified as Banjara Hills resident Abbas Syed, and J Narsimha from Gandhi Nagar were arrested on charges of drunk driving.
Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said they were held at the Toll Plaza on the Vijayawada Highway, as part of an enforcement drive against drunk driving, Telangana Today reported.
“Syed and Narsimha were caught for driving their vehicles under the influence of alcohol. Challans were issued and they were sent for counselling," the top cop was quoted as saying.
“Earlier, we used to only conduct drunk driving tests in the city limits during nights, but now we have begun conducting surprise checks at various junctions, including the highways and the city outskirts. We check all vehicles, including ambulances. We will take strict action against the accused. They could be imprisoned for six months and fined Rs 2,000,” Mahesh Bhagwat said.
While Narasimha's Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) was 77mg/100ml, Syed's BAC was 111mg/100ml. The permissible level according to the Hyderabad Traffic Police is below 30 mg. The rules also state that anything above 40 mg is dangerous.
Speaking about the arrests to the Times of India, Choutuppal Sub Inspector (SI) (traffic) K Madhusudhan said that the police caught Syed first.
"Since his behaviour was suspicious, we stopped the ambulance. There were no patients and we subjected the driver to a breathalyser test. His blood alcohol content (BAC) reading was 111 mg/100 ml, almost four times the permissible limit of 30 mg/100 ml," the police officer said.
Speaking about Narasimha's arrest the police officer told ToI, "When we asked the driver, Narasimha, to undergo breathalyser test, he tried to get away by saying that a patient has to be picked up urgently at Hyderabad. However, we went ahead with the test and the reading was 77 mg/ 100 ml."