Business dispute between two doctors having a stake in a new hospital they started recently in Madhapur resulted in firing, with one shooting at the other in Himayathnagar on Monday.
While Dr. Shashi fled after allegedly firing at Rachakonda Uday, also a doctor, the latter sustained a bullet wound beneath his left ear. He was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital. Doctors said Uday needs to be operated on as the pellets got embedded in him.
“One pellet, which he apparently swallowed, was seen in his abdomen. Two are stuck in the head but didn’t hit vital parts like the brain,” police officials quoted the doctors as saying. A surgeon, Dr. Shashi, runs a private hospital in Chaitanyapuri.
He and Dr. Uday and Dr. Sai, both anaesthetists, met at Minerva Hotel in Himayathnagar about investment-related disputes they had about Laurel Hospitals in which they had stakes. As there was crowd in the hotel, Dr. Shashi told them to sit in the car and discuss.
As Dr. Uday drove his Volkswagen car, Dr. Sai sat in the front and Dr. Shashi on the rear seat. “Already, Dr. Shashi was dissatisfied about the way the other two were managing the hospital’s affairs. During the discussion in the hotel too, he was furious,” Central zone DCP V.B. Kamalasan Reddy said.
When the car entered street no. 6, the surgeon started accusing the duo of mismanaging the hospital and said that he was frustrated and wanted to shoot them dead. “Soon after saying this, Dr. Shashi whipped out his revolver. Panicking, Dr. Sai opened the door and ran for his life,” Mr. Reddy explained.
The surgeon then aimed the .32 revolver at Dr. Uday and pulled the trigger. As the bullet pierced his left ear, Dr. Uday fell down. He managed to open the door, got into a three-wheeler and went to a hospital in Hyderguda.
The trio were known to each other for the past several years. Three years ago, Dr. Shashi planned to build a 100-bed hospital in Madhapur. “Uday and Sai claim they invested nearly Rs. 3 crore each in the project named Laurel Hospitals in Madhapur,” the DCP said.
Dr. Shashi, who reportedly invested about Rs. 70 lakh, was unhappy over the hospital construction which got delayed but finally started operations from January 1 this year. “It seems Dr. Uday and Dr. Sai became managing director and chief executive officer respectively of the hospital and some others joined as directors of the hospital having invested money,” investigators said.
