Wayanad District Medical Oofficer (DMO) Sasidharan (50), who had gone missing since Sunday, was found hanging at his clinic adjacent to his house at Mudikkottu, near Pandallur, in Malappuram district on Tuesday morning.
Dr. Sasidharan had left Wayanad for his house at Pandallur around 3 p.m. on Friday after attending a house polio training session at Mananthavady. He had informed his driver to wait for him with his official vehicle at Kalpetta at 8.30 a.m. on Monday to attend a health centre inauguration programme at Mepadi in Wayanad. The driver waited for Sasidharan with the office vehicle till 11.30 a.m.
His colleagues then tried to contact him over phone, but there was no response. “There was a district medical officers' conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday and we thought that he had gone for it,” A. Ajayan, deputy medical officer, Wayanad, and his college told The Hindu .
“Later, we learned from some circle that he left for Wayanad after seeing off his wife to her house at Payyannur,” he said.
Deputy Medical Officer Santhosh lodged a man-missing complaint at the Mananthavady police station around 10.30 p.m., Dr. Ajayan said.
Dr. Sasidharan, a native of Payyannur in Kannur district, had settled at Pandallur with his family around 25 years ago. The police recovered a suicide note from the spot.
He is survived by wife Sheeba and two children.
Case registered
Special Correspondent writes from Kozhikode: The Pandikkad police has registered a case under Section 174 (police to inquire and report on suicide) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. “Preliminary reports indicated that the incident was a case of suicide.
The police have recovered a suicide note stating that his body should be kept for public homage and his picture maintained at the DMO office. Investigators are awaiting the autopsy report. However, the post-mortem will be conducted at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode on Wednesday,” Debash Kumar Behra, Malappuram Superintendent of Police, said.
The case for the time being would be investigated by the station house officer. A special police team would be formed if the police obtained any incriminating evidence, he said.
However, police sources said that Mr. Sasidharan had been mentally disturbed for the past one week.
He had questioned the interference of politicians in the appointment of sweepers at the Mananthavady district hospital, they said.
