11 ambulances damaged, med equipment stolen RELATED PANAJI: A total of 11 ambulances operated by GVK emergency management and research institute (EMRI) 108 ambulance service were allegedly damaged and their tyres deflated while medical equipment inside the vehicles was also missing on Sunday.
The ambulances which rush in to attend to emergencies were thrown out of gear, as miscreants had deflated the tyres and also emptied the diesel tanks after removing the draining nut. The workers are on strike and the police is investigating if they had a hand in the crime. The total cost of the stolen equipment and of repair to the vehicles, though of minor nature has been estimated to be around Rs 4 lakh. The police from Agasaim police station rushed to the scene in the compound of Goa medical college hospital, Bambolim where the vehicles were parked outside GVK EMRI office. The police have not named any specific striking employee, but have filed the FIR under section 379 which pertains to theft. The case has been registered by project manager, Suraj Naik. According to police sources, the 11 ambulances were parked on the night of March 21. By Sunday morning, the tyres were found punctured while the draining nut of the diesel tanks were removed. "They found the diesel flowing out and some medical equipment is also missing and then they immediately called us," police officials said. The absence of watchmen and the lack of closed circuit television cameras is likely to have helped the miscreants perpetuate the crime, which is likely to have occurred around midnight, police sources said. Sources close to the striking employees said that the workers had nothing to do with it. "If we wanted to do such things we would have done it earlier," a striking worker added. Police Inspector Pravin Pawar is investigating the case.
