The police on Saturday announced a reward of ₹50,000 to anyone who gives clues about Dr. Suyash Gupta, the accused in the murder of St. Stephen’s Hospital fellow resident doctor Shashwat Pande. The accused has been on the run since the murder and the police remain clueless about his whereabouts.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra K. Singh admitted that they haven’t been able to trace Dr. Suyash and said that the police have got his photos pasted across several locations in the country.
“A reward of ₹50,000 was announced on his arrest three days ago, and 10 teams are working on the case. We have a few leads, but there is nothing concrete so far,” he said.
The police said that they have questioned several people in connection with the case, including the accused’s parents and they have been cooperating. “The parents claim they haven’t heard from him after the murder and have supported the investigation whenever they’ve been approached,” said Mr. Singh.
Disappointed with the investigation so far, the family of Dr. Shashwat said they are planning a protest march in the Capital on September 24, which would mark a month since the incident.
“We’ve waited far too long. We’ll hold a protest march against police inaction at either India Gate or Jantar Mantar depending on the permission we get,” said Dr. Shubhra Phillips, Shashwat’s maternal aunt.
Political connection
The family alleged that the accused and his family has political connection which is one of the reasons for the delay in his arrest. It is also why he was accepted back in the hospital after disciplinary action was taken against him twice, they claimed.
However, though St. Stephen’s director Sudhir Joseph admitted to having received calls from a person claiming to be a Member of Parliament, he denied the hospital acted on alleged political pressure.
Explaining why Dr. Suyash was accepted the first two times — he was suspended last year and earlier this year — Dr. Joseph said that last year, he was taken back because he apologised for his act and the second time, on account of his good behaviour and parents’ word.
“The proof that we didn’t give in to political pressure is the fact that he was still under suspension since July,” he said, referring to the third time a disciplinary action was taken against him.
Mr. Singh also denied that there is any political pressure influencing the case. “The family alleged political connection, but nothing like that has come up in the investigation so far. We are taking the case very seriously,” he said.
Talking about the motive of the case, a senior police officer privy to the case said that the victim was not happy with Dr. Shashwat’s closeness with a woman. “Initially Shashwat and Dr. Suyash were friends. The accused had feelings for the victim, but he got angry when Shashwat got close to the woman,” he said.
‘Victim was defamed’
Investigation has also revealed that the accused defamed Shashwat on several occasions on a WhatsApp group, which was one of the reasons the victim complained against him to the hospital authorities.
Shashwat was found dead, his throat slit, on the morning of August 25 in the retiring room of the hospital’s Radiology Department. Dr. Suyash is reportedly mentally unfit and was diagnosed with an illness at the St Stephen’s psychiatric department.
