Shashwat was found with his throat slit at St Stephen’s Hospital on Friday
Delhi Police on Tuesday questioned Lucknow- and Varanasi-based friends of Dr Suyash Gupta, the main suspect in the murder of Dr Shashwat Pandey, who was found with his throat slit inside St Stephen’s Hospital last Friday.
Pandey was enrolled in a postgraduate course at the department of radiology at the hospital and Gupta was his batchmate. Gupta has been absconding since the incident.
Investigators have also seized CCTV footage and DVR from the hospital premises that purportedly show Gupta coming out of the CT scan room, where Pandey’s body was later found in a pool of blood; and of the exit gate, from where he left in his car.
Sources said investigation so far has revealed that Gupta used to be in touch with his Lucknow- and Varanasi-based friends on a regular basis and used to share details of his life with them. Police believe that they might be aware of the reason behind the murder as well as where he could be hiding.
DCP (north) Jatin Narwal said, “We have summoned all relatives and friends of Gupta, and are questioning them to get some leads. We have questioned Gupta’s parents and our teams are conducting raids to nab him.”
Sources said that on scanning Gupta’s call detail records, it came to light that he switched off his cellphone soon after Pandey was murdered. It also revealed that before reaching the hospital, he had spoken with some friends on WhatsApp call.
Police issued a lookout circular for Gupta after they came to know that a day before the incident, he had posted on Facebook that it had been nice staying in India. His Chevrolet Beat car was found abandoned at Anand Vihar bus terminal.
“After questioning Gupta’s parents, we came to know that he left home after telling his mother that he was going for a movie and would stay over at a friend’s house on August 24. He carried his clothes in his bag. After scanning his bank accounts, we have also found that he has been frequently withdrawing money. He withdrew around Rs 5 lakh from one of his accounts from an ATM kiosk in Malka Ganj area,” said a police officer familiar with the details of the case.
