Hired Ambulances To Reach Kedarnath Fast!

On June 14, devotees headed from Haridwar to the Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand, hired two ambulances, one of them from Rajasthan, and converted them into taxis. The motive was simple -avoid traffic and take 'emergency' route to reach the shrine fast.

The pilgrims knew that the police wouldn't stop an ambulance, an emergency service vehicle used to transport sick patients to the hospital. They boarded ambulances, turned on their sirens, and started their journey.

One after another, they safely crossed all the check posts until the Sonprayag police got suspicious. Whenever a devotee falls sick or in case of an emergency en route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath, all check posts are alerted. However, Sonprayag police didn't have any information about the two ambulances. When they saw two speeding vehicles, with sirens blaring, they stopped them.

To their surprise, the two ambulances hosted devotees, enjoying the air-conditioned vehicles. While one ambulance was from Rajasthan with the number RJ14 PF 2013, the second was from Haridwar and had the number UK08 PA 1684. Both vehicles were seized under the Motor Vehicles Act, and drivers were fined.

Usually, there is strict police checking at places like Haridwar to Rishikesh, Byasi, Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Tilwara, Augustmuni, Guptkashi Phata, but, probably given the emergency, the police of these places did not stop the two vehicles.