July 3: The body of a doctor attached to the Walsh Hospital in Serampore was fished out of the Hooghly at Sankrail in Howrah this morning. There were apparently no external injury marks on the body, but his family suspects foul play.

Sushil Pal, a 45-year-old gynaecologist, left his in-laws’ residence at Bright Street in south Calcutta last morning for the hospital, but did not attend office. When Pal — who used to live in his in-laws’ place — did not return home till past midnight, his wife Kanika lodged a missing diary, first at Karaya police station and then at Serampore.

Around 10, Pal’s body was found floating in the Hooghly.

Police have registered an unnatural death case and sent the body for post-mortem at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Karaya police station has started a probe.

“The deceased’s cellphone number is the only clue for us. We have asked the cellphone service provider to give us a detailed call statement,” said a sleuth.

Kanika told the police she had contacted Pal twice during the day. “There was nothing wrong with his behaviour. He spoke to me as usual,” she said. “It was around 2.30 pm when I last spoke to him. I could hardly hear his voice because of a loud noise. When asked, he told me that he was in a room adjacent to the operation theatre from where the noise was coming.”

After filing the diary at Karaya, a worried Kanika visited the hospital last night and spoke to Mihir Saha, one of Pal’s colleagues.

“Saha told me my husband was not on duty yesterday and he had not come to the hospital. I then lodged another diary with Serampore police station,” she said.

Pal’s elder brother Nihar Ranjan alleged this afternoon at the Calcutta police morgue that his brother must have been murdered.

“After serving 16 years in a Jalpaiguri hospital, Sushil joined the Walsh hospital three months ago. He was looking tense recently. It seemed that he was trying to suppress some facts he had come to know. We have told police about it,” he said.