NE NEWS SERVICE
VADODARA, JULY 26
Thirteen people were arrested in Vadodara in Gujarat on Sunday for stopping an ambulance with a seriously ill person from coming into an imaging centre located in a housing complex claiming it increased the risk of residents contracting COVID-19, police said.
They were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly, act endangering life or personal safety of others, and wrongful restraint under sections 143, 336 and 341 of Indian Penal Code, and section 51 (A) of Disaster Management Act for refusing to comply with government directions, a Sayajigunj police station official said.
As per the complaint by a doctor at Baroda Imaging Centre, at around 11 pm on Saturday, thirteen men and women, all residents of Sangeeta Apartment and nearby residential complexes, gathered outside the imaging centre and tried to block an ICU ambulance carrying a seriously ill patient for tests.
“The residents claimed the imaging centre, located on the ground floor of the residential complex, was bringing coronavirus positive patients for tests, thereby risking them to COVID-19,” an official said.
“They stopped the ambulance and closed the main gate of the society. The vehicle could pass only after the police intervened. They were arrested on Sunday,” the official added.