A senior cardiologist of one of the Capital’s leading hospitals was shot dead at his residence here in the early hours of Wednesday, allegedly by an ex-Serviceman. The accused was arrested a few hours later.
The victim, 52-year-old Dr. Sanjiv Dhawan of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, lived with his wife and sons on the first floor of their three-storey building in Central Delhi. The two floors above were occupied by another family.
In his complaint, Dr. Dhawan’s son Sarthak told the police that the family had employed a woman, Sangeeta, as a domestic help nearly a fortnight ago.
A man named Dharmendra Kumar, who claimed to be Sangeeta’s husband, had been threatening Dr. Dhawan, demanding that Sangeeta be relieved of her duty. Dharmendra had even visited the hospital where Dr. Dhawan was posted as vice-chairperson of the Cardiology Department and threatened him. Even a day before the murder, Dr. Dhawan had received a threatening phone call from Dharmendra.
According to the police, the assailant reached Dr. Dhawan’s house at 2-30 in the middle of the night and climbed up to the second floor where he started banging the door, calling out Sangeeta’s name. As the residents living on the second floor came out, a scuffle ensued between them and Dharmendra who then came down to the first floor where Dr. Dhawan’s family was sleeping.
The sudden commotion woke up Dr. Dhawan and he along with his son came to the balcony where they found Dharmendra dressed up in military uniform and holding a firearm. The man trained his gun at Dr. Dhawan and fired. The bullet hit the doctor in the chest. An injured Dr. Dhawan asked his son to chase the man. Dharmendra, however, managed to escape.
Sarthak and a neighbour rushed Dr. Dhawan to hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
The police questioned Sangeeta and traced Dharmendra with the help of phone calls made by him.
He was subsequently arrested from a place near the victim’s house. The police also claim to have recovered the murder weapon from him.
Dharmendra (31) was working in the Army. After he was discharged from the Army, he started working as a security guard. According to the police, the accused is married and has children.
He had also married Sangeeta, who purportedly told the police that she married him under duress and was unwilling to live with him. Sangeeta had divorced her husband two years ago.
Dharmendra had been pressurising Sangeeta to start living with him, but she did not want to leave her job.
Dr. Dhawan had completed his medical education from King George Medical College in Lucknow and had joined SRGH in 1992
SGRH Cardiology Department chairman Dr. J. P. S. Sawhney said: “Dr. Sanjiv Dhawan was not only a good interventional cardiologist but also a very competent clinician. He has been instrumental in the growth of our department and, above all, was a very good human being.”
Dr. Dhawan is survived by his wife Jyoti and two sons.
