COIMBATORE: Family members of Dr Umashankar, chairman of Chennai Hospitals, accepted his body following talks with the police on Sunday. They had initially refused to accept the body, suspecting that he was murdered.
The family members and former staff of Chennai Hospitals, who gathered at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital where the autopsy was conducted, demanded a thorough probe into his death.
The murder angle is being put forth as Umashankar was embroiled in a dispute over his hospital’s lease agreement. He was killed when a car rammed into him at Kannappa Nagar on Saturday.
Following preliminary inquiry, the police said that the driver, Richard from Coonoor, had lost control of the vehicle as he was using a navigation app simultaneously during the trip to the city with his family.
The police also refuted claims that he had fled the scene after the accident. "After the accident, Richard and his family stayed at the spot,” said Balamurali Sundaram, Inspector of Police, Thudiyalur. After questioning Richard for nearly two days, the police said that they did not find any reason to suspect foul play. “However, as the family members think that it could be a murder, we are investigating the case from various angles."
Dr Umashankar, who took over the building of the erstwhile Ellen hospital in Sathy road on lease, started Chennai Hospitals in 2017. Earlier, Umashankar and hospital manager Maruthavanan were arrested for allegedly cheating the owner of the hospital premises, Dr P Ramachandran, of Rs 4.5 crore in December 2020 and were later released on bail.