Kedarnath pilgrims hire luxury ambulances as taxis to skip long queue; police seize vehicles

The two ambulances, moving towards Gaurikund that is the last motorable point before the 16-km uphill journey to the temple, were intercepted near the Kedarnath trek route by the police on Saturday.

In an attempt to skip long queues and reach Kedarnath temple, a few pilgrims hired two ambulances not for rescue, but for convenience, said police, TOI reported.

According to the report, the two ambulances, moving towards Gaurikund that is the last motorable point before the 16-km uphill journey to the temple, were intercepted near the Kedarnath trek route by the police on Saturday.

The ambulances cutting through the crowd at Sonprayag caught the attention of a police team on duty when no emergency call was received and no accident was reported. Interestingly, Gaurikund does not even have a hospital to receive patients.

According to the report, police found no stretchers, no bandaged limbs or wheezing patients inside the ambulance. Instead, they discovered three men dressed as pilgrims, calmly seated.

When questioned, ambulance drivers—Nikhil Wilson Massih from Haridwar and Krishna Kumar from Amroha—told officers that the vehicles had been hired not for rescue, but for convenience. One air-conditioned ambulance, classified as a "luxury" model, had been booked by a single pilgrim, the report added.

Meanwhile, the other ambulance carried two pilgrims. On their way uphill from Haridwar, the drivers had picked up three more passengers, the report added. Police said both vehicles were seized near the Acrow bridge after officers grew suspicious.

"The unusual thing was that the ambulance was moving towards Gaurikund and that too with people who had posed as patients. If someone is unwell, there is no reason for going towards Gaurikund to take the trek route," a policeman at Sonprayag told TOI.

"If there had been some medical emergency, an ambulance should have moved towards Sonprayag, Rampur and Rudraprayag. Therefore, it was very surprising for the police team," the policeman added.

According to the report, the three original passengers, who had hired the ambulances, fled on foot through the crowd at Sonprayag before they could be questioned.

Challans were issued to both the drivers and a case was registered under the Motor Vehicle Act. The drivers claimed they were merely driving the ambulances as instructed by the vehicle owners. "Our job was just to take the ambulances up to Gaurikund," one of them said, the report added.