AITA for requesting a lift from a government vehicle?

Need some perspective on an incident that happened last Sunday morning, and I’m wondering if I was in the wrong here.

So, I arrived in Chennai around 5 am for my holidays and took the metro to the station closest to my place. Yet I was still 2+kms away from my home, with a backpack and a heavy trolley. Autos were charging double the fare at that hour, and a Rapido seemed impractical, so I decided to walk home and started looking for cheaper autos on the way.

After walking halfway and getting pretty tired, I stopped near a metro construction site where two security guards were stationed, and one officer was inside a Tata Sumo who was referring some blueprints. Feeling worn out, I approached him and asked if he could give me a lift for the last 1 km.

The officer politely declined, saying the vehicle was a government vehicle used for metro construction, and he couldn’t help me. I tried to convince him, explaining how close I was to home, but he stuck to his answer: “Illa pa, idhu government vehicle, metro work is underway.”

I was a bit dejected and muttered under my breath, “Indha government, metro'lam yeh public'ku dhaan…” and continued on my walk.

So, AITA for asking for a lift from a government vehicle?

I know it’s a government vehicle, but I thought it was a simple request for a small favour.

Would love to hear your thoughts - was I being unreasonable or was the officer justified?