What we know so far about Dr.’s death Dipro Bhattacharya in a hotel room – The Week

A senior doctor of Jhargram Government Medical College & Hospital was found dead on Thursday. The victim, 29-year-old Dipro Bhattacharya, was a resident of Behala in Kolkata. He was staying at a hotel in Ghoradhara in Jhargram.

Dr. Bhattacharya had returned to Ghoradhara from Calcutta on Thursday morning after a holiday break. However, his relatives and colleagues could not reach him all morning. Concerned, his wife contacted the hotel manager and a local friend of her husband.

The hotel officials forced open the door of his hotel room, which was locked from the inside, and found him deceased. Jhargram District Police Superintendent Arijit Sinha said two syringes were found near him.

Police discovered a WhatsApp message sent by Bhattacharya, an anesthetist, to his wife, in which he discussed in detail his “personal, mental, professional and family problems” shortly before his death, Sinha told the media.

Dr. Bhattacharya had sent another message to some WhatsApp groups, where he reportedly discussed issues of ‘threat culture’ and ‘corruption’ within the health sector. He even compared “people who create fear among all students” with Sandip Ghosh, the former director of RG Kar.

Amid ongoing investigations into the RG Kar rape and murder case, his message sparked speculation that he may have been personally affected by these issues. Some young doctors, protesting in the aftermath of the RG Kar incident, have suggested that he may have been murdered.

Police would not comment on the nature of death. “We can only confirm the nature of his death after the post-mortem report arrives. We are investigating all aspects of the death that have emerged so far and we will be able to comment after finding substantial evidence,” Biplab Karmakar, officer-in-charge of Jhargram local police station, told THE WEEK.

Dr. Anurag Chatterjee, another senior anesthesiologist at Jhargram Government Medical College & Hospital and Bhattacharya’s best friend and roommate in Jhargram for 15 years, says Bhattacharya struggled to cope with mental health issues.

“There was no threat culture in our hospital. It is a very small and new institute. Moreover, Dipro had a very happy and healthy marriage,” Chatterjee told THE WEEK.

The two did their training together before moving to Bankura Sammilani Medical College for their MBBS. They obtained their Doctor of Medicine (MD) from RG Kar. For the past two years, they were posted in Jhargram.

Dr. Chatterjee said his friend was in a state of depression and the RG Kar incident had hurt him badly. “We were all affected, but Dipro just couldn’t deal with it. He always said how helpless he felt that he couldn’t do anything about it.’

However, he is not sure if that was the sole reason behind Dr.’s death. Bhattacharya, the only son of his parents. He said: ‘Almost everyone our age suffers from mental health problems. It’s not like Dipro only became depressed after the RG Kar incident. Hopefully the police investigation will reveal the truth.”