THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned forensic surgeon Dr B Umadathan, 73, passed away at a private hospital here on Wednesday. He had been ailing for some time. As a forensic expert, he had helped Kerala police crack dozens of sensational murder cases and other crimes. He was a forensic medicine professor and had served as medical legal expert for Kerala police.
Born on March 12, 1946, he took his MBBS degree and MD from the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. He started his career as a tutor at the Medical Education Department in 1969. Later, he worked as a professor at Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Thrissur medical colleges, apart from working as police surgeon. He had also worked as government medico-legal expert and consultant, medico-legal advisor of Kerala Police, and medico-legal consultant with the Libyan government.
Though he retired from the service in 2001, he used to advice the Kerala police in many sensational cases. Although a doctor by profession, he had a genuine interest in crime investigation. “Normally police surgeons will not do much beyond the scope of their mandate. But he always took interest to share his experience with the police officers and was always willing to tread an extra mile to help the cops,” said a senior cop Sibi Mathews.
The list of sensational cases he was involved in include Sister Abhaya murder case, ‘Chacko murder by Sukumara Kurup’, Polakkulam Peethambaran case to name a few. “It was after seeing his zeal in solving the cases, the post of the medico-legal advisor was created by the Kerala Police,” Sibi said.
He shared his vast experience through books like ‘Police surgente ormakurippukal’ (Memoirs of a Police Surgeon), Crime Keralam, and Kuttanweshanathile vidya shasthram (Science of criminal investigation).
He is survived by wife Padmakumari and children U Ramanathan and U Viswanathan. The funeral will be held at his house, Karikkakom in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Books
Dr Umadathan’s works include: ‘Science in the Detection of Crime’, ‘Investigation of Unnatural Death’; ‘Practical Forensic Medicine’, ‘Forensic Medicine for the Police’, ‘Forensic Medicine for the Medicos’; ‘Memoirs of a Police Surgeon’ ‘Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakkurippukal (Malayalam) and ‘Principles and Practice of Forensic Medicine.’
LAST RESPECTS
T’Puram: Mortal remains of former Medical Education director and forensic surgeon Dr B Umadathan will be kept at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday for paying homage. According to Forensic Medicine head Dr K Sasikala, the body will be brought to the hospital premises at 9 am. Hospital faculty, students, employees and the public can pay their last respects.
Sensational cases investigated by Umadathan
Polakkulam Peethambaran, who was found dead in a pool of blood on premises of Ernakulam Tourist Home in April 1983
Mithila Mohan, an abkari contractor, who was shot dead at his residence at Vennala by an unidentified person on April 5, 2006
Abkari contractor Munna murder case. Munna’s body was found partially burnt in a car at Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad in April 1992
Sr Abhaya murder case
Film based on cases handled by Umadathan
Actress Amala Paul will don the role of a forensic surgeon in her new Tamil movie which is based on true events and a real-life case handled by Umadathan