Hyderabad, April 22 --  A Nagarkurnool family has alleged that doctors at two private hospitals colluded to conceal the death of a 28-year-old temple priest, including referring him between facilities after he had already died.

Tirunagari Ramakrishna Murthy, a resident of Kodair mandal headquarters in Nagarkurnool district, was admitted to Manikanta Hospital on Monday, April 20, with gastrointestinal complications. He was also diabetic. As the hospital lacked an intensive care unit (ICU), he was placed in the general ward, where he was treated for two days.

In the early hours of Wednesday, April 22, family members alerted doctors that Murthy was struggling to breathe. According to his brother-in-law, also named Ramakrishna, the doc...