Mystery shrouds doctor’s death in Bhubaneshwar railway station

BHUBANESWAR: A doctor with the Municipal Hospital of the City was found dead under mysterious circumstances on the railway tracks near Platform No.1 of the railway station here on Friday night. He has been identified as Rabindranath Rath of Samantarapur.A CCTV footage of the platform showed that minutes before his body was found, Dr Rath was moving in the railway station. He was seen talking over his mobile phone and holding a disposable water bottle. 

The Government Railway Police (GRP), who verified the CCTV footage, found that the doctor was at Platform 6 at 9.47 pm while talking over phone. Then he took the foot over-bridge to reach Platform 1 which is mostly crowded. Rath’s body was spotted after a train left Platform 1 and GRP officials were tipped-off about the incident at about 10.05 pm. He had suffered head injuries.Surprisingly, Rath’s mobile phone was found intact but the call history was deleted which raised suspicion of foul-play. No other valuable was found missing from his possession.

While mystery shrouds his death, Rath’s family members alleged that it was a pre-planned murder. Family members said Rath had hurriedly left his clinic at about 9.10 pm after receiving a call from someone. As he did not know driving, someone must have dropped him off at the railway station, a kin said.Though police said it was investigating the incident from all angles, including murder, possibility of accidental death due to falling after slipping near the tracks has not been ruled out.

“We have also scanned the CCTV footage of a shop situated near Rath’s clinic. In the CCTV footage, he could be seen coming out of his clinic and walking alone. We are checking call detail record  (CDR) of Rath for ascertaining who he was talking to before the incident,” Bhubaneswar GRP IIC Bharat Sahoo told The Express.

Meanwhile, a case of unnatural death has been registered and further investigation is underway.
A paediatrician, Rath had retired as Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Bargarh. He was later appointed on contractual basis with the Municipal Hospital of the Capital.