Patient dies as vehicle intercepted by ‘ambulance racket’ for being rented from outside
An allegation has been made that an ambulance carrying a patient from Shariatpur Sadar Hospital to Dhaka was stopped on the road on two occasions yesterday, Tuesday.
The patient subsequently died before reaching a hospital in Dhaka.
The deceased has been identified as Jamshed Ali Dhali, 70, a resident of Kutubpur area in Damudya Upazila. He passed away on Tuesday afternoon.
Relatives of the deceased alleged that a group of 8–10 individuals, led by ambulance owner Suman Khan from the Shariatpur Sadar Hospital area, obstructed the ambulance for a total of approximately one and a half hours at Kotapara and Jamtala on the Dhaka–Shariatpur highway.
With the assistance of local residents, the ambulance was eventually released, and while being transported to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka, Jamshed Ali died at around 4:00 pm.
According to family members, Jamshed Ali fell ill on Tuesday morning and was taken to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital at approximately 9:00 am, where he was admitted.
Doctors later advised that he be transferred to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka for advanced treatment.
At around 11:30 am, the patient’s relatives hired an ambulance from the hospital premises for Tk 6,000. After a higher fare was demanded, they arranged another ambulance operated by an acquaintance for Tk 5,000 and left for Dhaka.
A similar incident occurred on 14 August last year, when a local ambulance syndicate obstructed an ambulance travelling from a private hospital in Shariatpur to Dhaka, resulting in the death of a newborn baby.
At about 12:00 noon, members of the local ambulance syndicate allegedly stopped the ambulance at Kotapara on the Dhaka–Shariatpur highway, questioning the use of an external ambulance instead of a local one.
After intervention by local residents, the ambulance was released after about 40 minutes but was stopped again at Jamtala in Naria.
Following a further 50 minutes of verbal altercation, it resumed its journey to Dhaka, where the patient died shortly before reaching the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital.
At around 8:00 pm, the family took the body to Palong Model Police Station in Shariatpur and initially informed the police verbally, who later advised them to submit a written complaint.
Jamshed Ali’s grandson, Jobayer Hossain, told Prothom Alo at around 9:00 pm that the ambulance was stopped at two locations for one and a half hours because they had not hired a local syndicate ambulance, and that his grandfather died before they could reach the hospital in Dhaka.
A similar incident occurred on 14 August last year, when a local ambulance syndicate obstructed an ambulance travelling from a private hospital in Shariatpur to Dhaka, resulting in the death of a newborn baby.
Accused ambulance driver Suman Khan denied the allegations stating that, he had only questioned the driver and had not stopped any ambulance.
The officer-in-charge of Palong Model Police Station, Shah Alam, said the allegation had been received verbally and that legal action would be taken once a written complaint is submitted.