Udupi: Kundapur police booked a case against a doctor for allegedly assaulting and threatening a journalist on Friday. The doctor was subsequently suspended.Police said a case has been booked against Dr Mahendra Kumar Shetty for allegedly assaulting, hurling abuses, and issuing death threats to Srikanth Hemmady, a reporter for a Kannada daily. The commissioner of health and family welfare has suspended Dr Mahendra Kumar Shetty, surgeon, General Hospital, Kundapur, with immediate effect.Gurudatta Hegde, commissioner, health and family welfare services, stated in an order issued on Friday, that Dr Mahendra Kumar Shetty, currently serving on other duty at General Hospital, Karkala, is on leave for medical treatment for a total of 58 days from Aug 4 to Sept 30. During this leave period, on Friday, Dr Mahendra Kumar Shetty assaulted Srikanth Hemmady, a journalist, while Hemmady was at a restaurant. Footage of the assault was broadcast in the media and across social media platforms, as reported by the district health and family welfare officer, Udupi district, in the referenced letter, the commissioner stated.Accordingly, because the doctor conducted himself in a manner unbecoming of a government servant, he violated Rules 3(1)(i), (ii), and (iii) of the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 2021. Therefore, in the public and administrative interest, the following order is issued suspending him pending inquiry, he added.Regarding Hemmady’s publication in a newspaper about a surgeon at Kundapura Govt Hospital collecting money from in-patients during treatment, Dr Shetty allegedly harbored a grudge, assaulted the complainant, used foul language, and issued a death threat. A case has been registered in connection with this under sections 126(2), 115(2), 352, and 351(2) of BNS, police said.SP Hariram Shankar said an investigation is on, and appropriate legal action will be taken against the accused.Condemning the incident, health and family welfare minister UT Khader said the assault on the journalist is unacceptable. “I have spoken to the officials concerned regarding the incident. A high-level inquiry will be initiated through a competent officer and action will be taken against the offenders,” the minister said in Bengaluru.Udupi District Working Journalists’ Association has strongly condemned the assault on its member Hemmady.In connection with a report concerning the Kundapur hospital, medical officer Dr Shetty assaulted the journalist, said the association’s district president Subrahmanya G Kurya. He demanded that Udupi district police take this incident seriously and initiate strict legal action against the accused.
