ALAPPUZHA: A youth who called ‘108 ambulance’ to reach Thiruvananthapuram from Haripad quickly was arrested by police. The incident took place in Haripad private hospital premises at 5 pm on Sunday.

Neyattinkara native Ananthu (29) is the youth. Ananthu, a medical representative, came to the hospital in Haripad to provide medical equipment. Ananthu got married a week ago.

He wanted to travel by ambulance so as not to delay attending a private event in his hometown. Ananthu called 108 and said that he was a neurosurgeon and wanted an ambulance to reach Thiruvananthapuram for emergency surgery. The reply from the call centre was that the ambulance would not leave without a patient. Then Ananthu sent a voice message to the respective authorities complaining that the ambulance was not coming. After this message reached the WhatsApp group of 108 ambulance operators, the authorities started an investigation. Doubting this, they reached the hospital premises with an ambulance. They became suspicious of the youth’s behaviour and called the police. During interrogation, he revealed that he called the ambulance to reach home quickly. Ananthu, who was charged under the Police Act for misuse of emergency services, was released on station at around 9 pm.