The accused had been involved in ambulance business since 2 years, police said. (Representational)
An ambulance owner was arrested for allegedly charging over Rs one lakh from a person to transport a COVID-19 patient to Ludhiana from Gurgaon, police said on Friday.
The accused, Mimoh Kumar Bundwal, is also an MBBS doctor and a resident of Dashgarha village in Inderpuri, they said.
The patient's family told reporters in Ludhiana that they managed to contact a Delhi-based operator as they were unable to find any ambulances in their city. They said the operator initially demanded Rs 1.40 lakh for the service.
However, he later agreed to charge Rs 20,000 less after the family told him that they had oxygen stock with them.
An amount of Rs 95,000 was paid to the ambulance operator as advance, while the remaining Rs 25,000 was paid immediately upon reaching Ludhiana, the patient's daughter alleged.
A senior Delhi Police officer said that on Thursday, information was received that a company Cardeacare Ambulance Pvt Ltd at Dashghara Village, Inderpuri was providing ambulance services and looting people by charging two to three times more than the actual rent for the transportation of the COVID-infected.
"During investigation, police traced Bundwal who ran the ambulance service company. He was later arrested after a case was registered at the Inderpuri Police Station in this regard," Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Urvija Goel said.
The accused is an MBBS doctor and had been involved in the ambulance business since the last two years, the DCP said.
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