Coronavirus: Ambulance Stuck as Chennai Police Stops Vehicles to Let ‘VIP’ Convoy Pass | Watch

The convoy, it has been alleged, was that of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswmi, even though the police have said that this is not the case.

New Delhi: There seems to be no let up in politicians exhibiting ‘VIP behaviour’ even during a pandemic, as a video has gone viral on social media of the Chennai Police stopping vehicles to facilitate the movement of a ‘VIP convoy.’

The ‘VIP convoy,’ it has been alleged, was that of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswmi.

#WATCH An ambulance and commuters were stopped by Chennai Police near Island Grounds intersection to allow VIP convoy to pass, today. #Chennai pic.twitter.com/0gdvHOhrFX

— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2020

In the video, a traffic jam can be seen on one side of the road, with even an ambulance stuck in it.

Reacting to the video, the Chennai Police said that vehicles had been, in fact, stopped for check because of ‘lockdown violations.’ They also said that while there was no patient inside the ambulance, the CM had instructed them not to stop traffic for his convoy.

However, hitting out at the Chief Minister, DMK MP Kanimozhi tweeted: “Congratulations CM! A few days ago, you brought entire cities out on to the road because of your lockdown within a lockdown. Now, you bring the city traffic and ambulances to a standstill. Your humility is amazing.”

This was in reference to the panic buying that was witnessed after the state government, on Friday, announced a four-day shutdown in five cities, including Chennai, from April 26. The other four cities are Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Tiruppur.

The panic buying led to people crowding markets, throwing aside social distancing norms.

Tamil Nadu has thus far recorded 1,885 COVID-19 positive cases, of which 839 are active, 1,020 patients have been cured and 26 have died.