Telangana Police catch ambulance thief after dramatic chase on highway

Hyderabad, Dec 7: Telangana Police caught an ambulance thief after a dramatic chase on Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway on Saturday.

The thief hijacked a 108 ambulance in Hayatnagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad and turned it into a getaway car.

The police caught the thief after a wild chase for more than 100 kilometres by placing lorries as blockades near Suryapet.

Alerted by the ambulance driver after the vehicle was stolen, the police vehicles began the chase, and it soon turned into a filmi-style action as the thief further accelerated the siren-blaring ambulance towards Vijayawada.

Weaving through traffic on the highway, the offender outpaced police officers and triggered chaos on the busy road.

According to police, the ambulance hit an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police when he tried to stop the vehicle at Chityala. The ASI, identified as Jana Reddy, suffered critical injuries and was rushed to a private hospital in Hyderabad.

Even after hitting the police officer, the thief continued driving the ambulance at a high speed and rammed into a gate at Korlapahad toll gate in Kethepalli Mandal.

Alerted by their counterparts over the phone, police officers at Tekumatla in Suryapet Mandal set up a blockade using lorries. On spotting the lorries, the thief tried to veer off the vehicle but it slipped off the road and crashed into bushes. Police personnel swooped on the culprit and arrested him.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the thief has a criminal history. He was involved in theft cases under the limits of different police stations.

The police took the thief into custody and interrogated him to ascertain the motive.

An investigation was also launched into the previous cases registered against him.

While a few cases of thieves escaping with the buses of the Road Transport Corporation were reported in the past, this is perhaps the first case in recent memory in which the ambulance was hijacked.