Union minister Suresh Gopi booked for 'misusing' ambulance in Kerala

A case was registered against Union Minister Suresh Gopi and two others for "misusing" an ambulance during the Thrissur Pooram festivities in April this year, the police said on Sunday.

On Sunday, the Thrissur East police registered an FIR against Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi 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, the police said.

The case was registered following a complaint filed by KP Sumesh, a local Communist Party of India 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 Bharatiya Janata Party 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 that he reached the festival site in an ambulance and claimed that he reached close to the festival site in his car, which was then attacked by some 'goondas' of the rival political parties.

The MoS claimed that he was rescued from there by some youngsters who put him in an ambulance which was there at the festival site to cater to those in distress.

Gopi had earlier refuted the claims, including by some BJP leaders, that he had reached the festival venue in an ambulance.

The Thrissur Pooram disruption row has triggered a political debate in the state after Chief Minister Vijayan stated that the Pooram and the other rituals were not disrupted.

Congress and the Left ally CPI have alleged that the Pooram was purportedly disrupted to help the BJP win the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat by evoking Hindu sentiment.

Meanwhile, the Thrissur East police registered a case for disrupting the Pooram.

There were police interventions in the Thrissur Pooram rituals and the subsequent controversies took the sheen off the annual spectacle held in April this year.

For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the early hours, was held in broad daylight the next day, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.