Did accused tamper with Dr Payal Tadvi's phone? asks CBI

Payal Tadvi

The Crime Branch (CB) had earlier suspected that the doctors accused of abetting Dr Payal Tadvi's suicide had only destroyed the physical copy of her suicide note, but according to the investigators, it now seems that they had also deleted photographs of the note that were taken on her cell phone. Police sources said Payal had apparently sent those pictures either to the accused minutes before ending her life. The CB has sought answers from the FSL to certain questions related to this, for which they are yet to send a detailed report.

The primary FSL report on the suicide note mentioned in the charge sheet suggests that copies of it have been recovered from Payal's phone. As per the report, photos of three pages of the note were taken on her phone after 17:04pm on May 22, the day she committed suicide. The same day Dr Hema had called her around 16:51pm and the conversation was also recovered from her phone.

Also Read: Dr Payal Tadvi's suicide: No evidence to book HoDs, say cops; experts disagree

Cops suspect that either before or after the call she wrote the suicide note and minutes later before hanging herself, she took photos of it and sent them to the accused. On receiving the pictures, Dr Hema and Dr Bhakti might have rushed to her room around 7:06pm, according to the CCTV footage details. Police further said Dr Hema and Dr Bhakti were the first ones to reach Payal's room after which they called Dr Snehal Shinde. Her body was taken to the emergency ward at 7:30pm after which the accused duo went back to Payal's room.

A CB officer said, "We suspect that they knew about the suicide note because of which they rushed to Payal's room. Later when they went in again and destroyed the original note, they might have deleted copies of it from her cell phone as well. We are waiting for a detailed report from FSL." The spot panchnama that the Agripada police had conducted on May 22 had no mention of under what conditions Payal's phone was recovered - whether it was locked.

Also Read: Accused doctors in Payal Tadvi's case never behaved normally with their juniors, say doctors

Payal's husband Salman, who was present during the panchnama, said, "As far as I remember, the phone was locked. The officer had asked me whether I knew the password, but I did not, as Payal had purchased the phone a couple of months back and had set a four-digit numeric password for it. But the accused doctors might know the password, as it is usually shared with unit members so that the phone can be used in case of an emergency or while at the operation theatre."

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