A young doctor attached to the Contai sub-divisional hospital in East Midnapore died under mysterious circumstances on Saturday.

Shalini Das, 30, an anaesthetist from Dum Dum, fell ill at her rented house in Tamluk's ward 17 on Saturday morning, where she stayed with her mother Kabita Das.

Police and family sources said that on Saturday morning, Shalini left home around 7am to visit a nursing home in Mahishadal. Later, she attended another private healthcare facility in Tamluk before returning home around 11am. Her mother noticed her wrist had an intravenous (IV) channel attached, which is typically used to administer medicine.

“She fell ill inside the washroom at home. However, she managed to come out but fell unconscious on the ground with bleeding through the intravenous channel. I called the neighbours and took my daughter to a local nursing home immediately,” said Kabita.

As her condition deteriorated rapidly, she was shifted to the Tamluk subdivisional hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.

Family members said they were unaware of any ailment that might have required her to use an intravenous channel.

Police registered a case of unnatural death and conducted an autopsy, but no preliminary cause could be identified. Viscera samples were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Calcutta.

Tamluk’s subdivisional police officer Afzal Abrar said: “We are trying to find out what actually caused her death.”

Chief medical officer of health, Nandigram, Asit Kumar Dewan said: "A two-member medical probe team has been formed to investigate her death."