Batchmates suspect foul play in death of junior resident doctor of AIIMS, CBI inquiry demanded

New Delhi: Government doctors and medical students came out in numbers to demonstrate in protest before the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital( CMCH) on Friday afternoon. They were demanding a CBI inquiry and appointing of an expert committee to look into the death of Dr. Saravanam Ganeshan, an AIIMS student, on July 11 . The protesters voiced their concern over evidence in the case pointing towards a murder rather than a suicide.The demonstration was led by the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors' Association (TNGDA), and had placard holding doctors demanding an inquiry into the student's death.

Dr. Saravanam Ganeshan, a former Madurai Medical College student was discovered dead in his Haus Khas apartment.

The TNGDA President, Dr. G.R. Ravindranath voicing suspicion tending towards murder rather than suicide said,"The student who had joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) six months ago for MD in pathology had moved to MD in general medicine only 10 days before his death," "Police have also not found any apparent reason for distress or unhappiness. If he did not like the place or circumstances, he would have just changed institutes and not courses," he said.

Batchmates of the junior resident doctor at AIIMS, have raised suspicion over the death. His body was found in his rented room in South Delhi. A reported social media 'movement' has gathered pace, where his friends and relatives are trying to seek the truth behind the unfortunate incident. They want to ensure that their classmate suspicious death case gets justice and that culprit/s get punished. They are also urging the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to intervene, for a fair probe into the matter.

Dr. Sarvanan's death is alleged to be a case of suicide, which happened on July 10. However, no suicide note was found near his body by the Delhi police. His body was handed over to his family on the day he died. Dr. Sarvanan had completed his UG medical course from Madurai Medical College.

Batchmates at AIIMS and Madurai have implied that while they are shocked at the news, they also want to get into the bottom of the matter at hand. A written note by batchmates in both the states implied that this issue has saddened us and we are in utter grief as well as rage as we are feeling helpless. If such a crime has been committed, we are enrages at the sheer audacity of it, they further implied. They together feel that there are some missing links, alleging a foul play. The batchmates have also questioned the contradictory statements.

"The door was unlocked, there was a venflon in his right arm through which the lethal dose which killed him was injected through a syringe which was in place in the morning. The venflon's cap was missing. There was no empty drug vial in the room. It's physically impossible for a right handed person to insert a venflon himself into his right cubital vein without help. He left no note, didn't speak with anybody about any issue he faced there. There were blood stains on his cloth and on the walls of his room. There is a round of counselling scheduled for unfilled seats in 10 days. He already took an MD Pathology seat there in the previous session, discontinued it, got a better rank this time and joined his dream MD Medicine course, just on July 1. He spoke with his friends after joining saying he was pleased there…….so why would he kill himself?'' asks the group, as reported by the media.

Dr. Arvind Gandhi, who studied with Saravanan at the Madurai Medical College said to the news minute that, "He was on duty until 12:30am on Sunday. That's the last time his colleagues at AIIMS saw him." When he failed to turn up for duty at 8am the next morning, his seniors went to his residence to check on him. "His door was open and when they entered they found an IV line on his right hand," says Dr. Arvind. Friends and classmates have raised questions over how Saravanan, who was right-handed could have injected himself with his left-hand.

Having known Saravanan for six years, Dr. Arvind says there was no reason for his friend to kill himself. "He was a brilliant guy. He had gotten into Pathology in December. But he gave up his seat and studied again. His ambition was MD – General Medicine," he explains. While Dr. Arvind got into Safdarjung Medical College, his classmate got into the medical institute across the road,AIIMS.

The DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin has recently urged the State government and implied that safety of Tamil Nadu students, pursuing courses in other states should be taken care of.

He also implied that this case "was shrouded in mystery as the Delhi police had also announced that a lethal dose had been injected in his right hand.'' "As there is an intense competition to get admission in AIIMS, students doubt that Saravanan could have been a victim of that competition. His father Ganesan also said that his son had problems," Mr. Stalin noted.