Sirs: Owners of private ambulances in Sirsi suspended services and staged a snap protest on Friday complaining that their ambulances ferrying patients from Uttara Kannada district to hospitals in Udupi and Dakshin Kannada districts were being sent back from Shirur border in Udupi district.

They said that even patients suffering serious health problems and needing emergency treatment were being sent back mercilessly. Stating that they would not ferry patients until the problem was solved, the owners parked their vehicles near Devikere Circle to register their ire.

Assistant Commissioner Eshwar Ullagaddi and CPI Pradeep B U tried assured of solving the problem.