Chennai: Suntharavel Rajendran (41) of Nethinatham village near Thittakudi in Cuddalore had checked in at the star hotel on June 25. His wife Chandra said he last spoke to her over phone after arriving in Chennai, after which his number was not reachable. Later, she received a message from the hotel that her husband had given her number as the contact person while in quarantine. “However, as there were no calls from him since then, I checked with the local police station, but was just told not to panic and wait,” she said in a video. When she contacted the hotel, she was initially told that Suntharavel was missing. On persistent questioning, they late told her that he was found dead in his room. In the FIR registered by Teynampet police, security manager B Elumalai stated that Suntharavel did not respond to doorbell for the second COVID test (he tested negative in the first test upon arrival) after which he and room division manager Shubankar opened the room (No 1006) with the master key. They found him unconscious in the toilet and called the in-house doctor Mukesh, who declared him dead.

When contacted, officials said autopsy showed that Suntharavel had died of heart attack, and that the body was handed over to the family. When asked why the hotel staff did not check on him though he did not take the food for two days, the investigation officer said, “As part of the package, the inmates are given simple food, which is placed at the doorstep. Those who want to order something else leave this food untouched, which is cleared by the service boys. They thought Suntharavel might have ordered other food and did not bother check on him, which resulted in the delay,” said the officer.

However, in the video, Chandra has raised suspicion over her husband’s death.