Varanasi, September 13 (TNA) A 40-year-old urologist was found dead in his room on the campus of Heritage Institute of Medical Sciences in Varanasi, with police investigating the case as a suspected suicide. An injection vial, syringe and the doctor’s mobile phone were recovered from the room, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Dr Shubhankar Gautam, a Master of Surgery-qualified doctor who had been working in the urology department of Heritage Institute of Medical Sciences for about three years. He was a native of Kankarbagh in Patna, Bihar. Reports said he had completed his MS and later an MCh degree from AIIMS.
According to preliminary information, Dr Gautam allegedly went to the hospital’s operation theatre, obtained an anaesthesia injection and a syringe, and returned to his residential room on the hospital premises. He was later found lying unresponsive on the bed after the room was opened.
Initial reports differ on where the injection was administered, but police have not yet formally confirmed the precise medical cause of death. An empty vial of anaesthesia medicine was reportedly recovered from the room.
Police were alerted after the doctor did not respond from inside his room. Officers reached the hospital campus, broke open the door and found him on the bed. The body was sent for post-mortem examination, while forensic and medical evidence is being examined.
Police said their preliminary inquiry pointed to a possible dispute between Dr Gautam and his wife. Reports said the couple had reportedly been facing differences, although investigators are yet to establish whether any personal or professional issue directly led to his death.
No final conclusion has been drawn, and police said the exact cause of death would be known only after the post-mortem report and forensic examination are received. His family has been informed. Hospital authorities and the police are expected to examine CCTV footage, the doctor’s call records, the medicine and syringe recovered from the room, and statements of colleagues and family members as part of the investigation.
The case has sent shockwaves through the medical fraternity in Varanasi. Authorities have urged against speculation until the investigation and post-mortem findings are complete.