Doctor's death still a mystery

HYDERABAD: A day after the death of KIMS ENT surgeon Kothapally Raghavender Rao came to light, the mystery surrounding the doctor's demise deepened further with police stumbling on new facts in the case. During the initial investigation, police came to know that Dr Rao used to frequent Harshavardhan Colony, where he was found dead in his parked BMW car on Wednesday.
The colony is not on the main route of Dr Rao's house at Canton gated community, Kompally-KIMS Hospital, Minister's Road, Secunderabad stretch. To reach the spot where the car was found, Rao should exit the Medchal highway at Old Bowenpally and enter the lanes of the colony.
On Wednesday morning, the family members of Dr Rao found his BMW car parked on an internal road, under a tree and before an open plot at Harshavardhan Colony. The GPS tracker in the BMW helped locate the vehicle in the wee hours of Wednesday where Rao was found dead in the driver seat.
Prior to this, Rao's wife Swarnalatha started making enquiries with the KIMS hospital staff on Tuesday evening as the former was not answering her phone calls. The staff at KIMS informed her that the doctor did not turn up for work on Tuesday. "While leaving the house at 9.30 am on Tuesday, Dr Rao told his wife that he was going to the hospital. Again around 2.30 pm, Rao answered his wife's call and told her that he was at the hospital and he would be coming home late," a police officer, who is part of the investigation, told TOI.
According to police, Swarnalatha's call was the last one to be attended by Dr Rao. Prior to his wife's call, he spoke to several doctors, a patient and staff of some hospitals, where he was working as a consultant. After leaving the house, Dr Rao called his assistant Dr Kalyan at KIMS and informed that he was not well. Rao then asked Kalyan to perform a surgery, which the former was supposed to attend. Till 1.30 pm, he was in touch with the KIMS staff.
During the preliminary probe, police came to know that Rao lied to his wife about his presence at KIMS and cops were now trying to find out why he did so. On enquiring with locals at Harshavardhan Colony, it came to the fore that Rao's BMW was seen regularly in the area. "The call data records show that Dr Rao had last visited Harshavardhan Colony on July 20. The frequency was like once a month or more than that," an official supervising the probe said.
Police were yet to find out why Rao used to visit the colony. The family members and the staff of KIMS told the police that there was no clinic there and neither their friends nor relatives stayed there. "There are no suspicious call exchanges from his phone since he left the house. All the persons whom he spoke to were related to his profession. We suspect that Rao might be visiting the colony to consume liquor," a police official said. The investigators found a half-empty vodka bottle in the car. The doctors, who performed the post-mortem at Gandhi Hospital, said the lips of the victim were bruised and his heart was enlarged. Rao was suffering from hypertension.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP), North Zone, N Prakash Reddy said the viscera of the victim has been sent to FSL for forensic analysis. "We have to wait for the report from the FSL and postmortem report to know the cause of death. We are also analyzing the call data of the victim," the DCP added. The victim's son and daughter, who live in the US, would reach the city on Thursday night.
There are no suspicious call exchanges from his phone since he left the house. All the persons whom he spoke to were related to his profession. We suspect that Rao might be visiting the colony to consume liquor
A police official
WHO DUNNIT?
The GPS tracker in the BMW helped locate the vehicle on Wednesday where Rao was found dead in the driver seat
Harshvardhan colony is not on the main route of Dr Rao's house at Canton gated community, Kompally-KIMS Hospital, Minister's Road, Secunderabad stretch
Rao's wife Swarnalatha started making enquiries with the KIMS hospital staff on Tuesday evening as the former was not answering her calls where the staff informed that Rao did not turn up for work
During preliminary probe, it was learned that Rao lied to his wife about his presence at KIMS
There are no suspicious call exchanges from his phone since he left the house. All the persons whom he spoke to were related to his profession
Cops suspect that Rao might be visiting the colony to consume liquor