Union Minister Suresh Gopi booked for ‘misusing’ ambulance on Thrissur Pooram day

PTI Thrissur: A case was regsitered against Union Minister Suresh Gopi and two others for “misusing” an ambulance during the Thrissur Pooram festivities in April this year, police said on Sunday. The Thrissur East Police on Sunday registered an FIR against the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, Abhijith Nair and an ambulance driver in this regard.

Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC and sections 179, 184, 188 and 192 of Motor Vehicles Act were imposed against them, police said. The case was registered following a complaint filed by K P Sumesh, a local CPI leader, seeking legal action against Gopi for allegedly misusing an ambulance to reach the Pooram venue flouting police restrictions.

According to the FIR, Gopi, who was the then BJP candidate in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, and the other accused acted as part of the election campaign strategy and travelled in an ambulance owned by Seva Bharati, which was allowed to take only patients, to hold talks with the Thiruvambadi Devaswom authorities violating the police restrictions. “They drove the ambulance through Thrissur Round amidst the crowd on the Pooram day (April 20) in such a way as to cause harm to human life and so on,” the FIR added. Suresh Gopi on Thursday refuted the allegations.