Experts to probe ‘medical negligence’ in Karnataka IPS officer Madhukar Shetty’s death

Five months after his death in Hyderabad, Karnataka forms panel to probe suspicions that line of treatment to Madhukar Shetty was 'flawed'.

File image of Madhukar Shetty |Twitter

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has formed a five-member expert committee to probe any negligence in the death of IPS officer Madhukar Shetty after his family and friends raised suspicions over the medical treatment he received before he died in December last year.

The medical committee, to be led by senior cardiologist Devi Shetty, has been constituted to look into the reasons for Shetty’s death, and ascertain if there’s a need for a judicial inquiry into the case, said a government notification.

Shetty, known as an upright and well-respected Karnataka cadre officer, died at the age of 47 after being suspected of contracting swine flu (H1N1 infection) during his stint as deputy director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

The officer was treated at a private hospital in Hyderabad with top IPS officers from both Karnataka and Telangana monitoring his health. However, his family and friends suspect that Shetty’s “line of treatment was flawed”.

Speaking to ThePrint, Dinesh Amin Mattoo, who was media advisor to previous chief minister Siddaramaiah and a close friend of Shetty, said he wants to know the “exact reason behind his death”.

“First, it was mentioned that he succumbed due to H1N1, but then later we were told that H1N1 may not be the cause. This is why we want the real reason.”

“I am not attributing any larger motive or conspiracy to his death. We are only seeking a detailed probe whether the line of treatment was right as there were lot of rumours, whether it was a heart attack or any other organ failure. This move by the government is very welcome,” said Mattoo.

Sources close to the family said Shetty’s wife Suvarna, who now lives in the US, had met state home minister M.B. Patil earlier this year seeking a probe into the case. It is believed that the state has set up the panel based on Suvarna’s meeting with Patil.

Suvarna had also met Karnataka director general of police Neelamani Raju for assistance.

Death and investigations

Just a day after the IPS officer died at Hyderabad’s Continental Hospital, the Telangana State Epidemics Cell conducted an independent internal enquiry and came to the conclusion that Shetty had not contracted H1N1.

At the time, Continental Hospital founder Dr Guru N. Reddy had said, “An emergency surgery was carried out for aortic dissection, but he did not recover after the surgery. The officer, who was put on the life support system, died of catastrophic illness.”

However, when ThePrint contacted the hospital immediately after Shetty’s death, the hospital authorities had shared a statement saying that apart from having trouble in breathing, the IPS officer was in a critical condition, suffering from severe hypertension and hyperthyroidism. He was put on ventilator and doctors suspected that he had contracted H1N1 infection.

He breathed his last on 28 December.

The upright officer

During his tenure, the Karnataka cadre officer is believed to have made it difficult for corrupt leaders and officials in the state to operate, leading to several transfers over the years.

As the superintendent of police (SP) for Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, along with the then deputy commissioner Harsh Gupta, Shetty took on the rich planters who had encroached on government land.

In 2006, when a group of 35 families was evicted from the Tatkola forest, allegedly on the orders of government officials, Shetty and Gupta came up with the idea of allocating 64 acres of the land reclaimed from encroachers, on the edge of the Sargod Kundur reserve forest, to the families.

The grateful villagers named their hamlet after the duo, as Gupta-Shettyhalli.

Shetty, son of the late veteran Kannada journalist Vaddarse Raghuram Shetty, was also an integral part of the team that exposed illegal iron ore mining in Ballari, the backyard of powerful mining baron Janardhan Reddy. He also arrested Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Y. Sampangi in the illegal mining case which finally led to the resignation of the then Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The IPS officer was also known for his participation in operations against the forest brigand Veerappan as well as Maoists, besides his relentless crusade against corruption.