BENGALURU: The family of Dr Gadasalli, who was shot dead by a close associate in Odessa, Texas, this week is in touch with relatives in the city. The doctor, who studied at National College in the city before going to Belagavi to study medicine, has relatives in Chamrajpet and Basavangudi.
The brother of Dr Gadasalli’s wife Arti, Anand Chikkodi told Express he does not the reason for this incident. He remembered Dr Gadasalli’s last visit to the city. “He had visited us last December. He used to come down every year with his family. They would visit temples and other famous eateries in the city like Vidyarthi Bhavan,” he said.
Dr Gadasalli also had a house in Richmond Town and Jayanagar and used to stay there whenever he visited Bengaluru.
“No one stays there now,” Anand said. Arti is in touch with her family and calls every day, he said.
‘Silent But Jovial’ Theatre personality, Babu Hirannaiah, son of Master Hirannaiah, who was Dr Gadasalli’s classmate at National College remembers him fondly. “He was a silent student in class, but was also jovial with us. He was associated with the National Cadet Corps (NCC) when in PUC,” he said. Hirannaiah said he had lost touch with Dr Gadasalli “when he went to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Belagavi to study medicine and I went to study engineering”.
“After many years, we had an alumni meet at National College under the Udayam Forum. Their basic aim was to help poor children. We got together on Facebook and created an account. It was on this forum, that I learnt that he was in Texas and had become an established doctor. It is very unfortunate that he had to leave us this way,” he said.
Visited Family When I Was in The US: Gauri Noted journalist Gauri Lankesh said that she had stayed with the Gadasallifamily on two occasions when she visited Texas.
“He was a very social person besides being a complete professional at the Heart Center. I went on several trips with his family to malls and also met several of his friends in Odessa during dinner parties,” she said.
“When they came to Bengaluru for summer holidays, they would take their children around the city and show them several areas. The family would also visit Arti’s brother in Basavangudi and some other relatives who stay in Chamrajpet.” Lankesh studied with the doctor at National College and said that she firmly believed that he was a “good person”.
The life and times
Currency structuring
Dr Gadasalli was arrested in May 2013 on allegations of currency structuring charge. He was fighting the case over allegations that he had structured several transactions in order to avoid reporting them to the Government. NewsWest9 reported that the case against the doctor would be dismissed once the US Attorney’s office received formal notification of his death.
The Good Doctor
Several patients came out in strong support for Dr Gadasalli in Odessa, Texas, where he has been practising since 1994. The Director of the Healthy Heart Centre had many patients, who considered him to be more than just their heart doctor, and said that his death was a ‘shock’ to them.
One of the first cardiologists in the US to be American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) certified, Dr Gadasalli was a co-founder of the Alliance Hospital, which then became the Odessa Regional Medical Centre.
NewsWest9.com, a firm headquartered in Midland, Texas, carried patient reactions after reporting that the Doctor had been shot dead and that the body of his patient and business associate Ayyaswamy Thangam was also found at the spot with gunshot wounds. Other websites said Thangam may have shot Dr Gadasalli many times before shooting himself.
Patients said they could not imagine the way in which Dr Gadasalli had died. Carol Smith, whose husband was the doctor’s patient, was quoted by NewsWest9 as saying that Gadasalli had flown back from a holiday three days earlier to operate on her husband.
NRIs killed Abroad in the past 1 year