How doctor's one-man campaign exposed Josef Fritzl's truth

London, May 11 : The Austrian doctor whose actions led to the capture of Josef Fritzl says his suspicions were raised within seconds of meeting the devil dad.

Dr Albert Reiter's refusal to believe Fritzl's lies about a bizarre sect led directly to the exposure of the plight of the Amstetten cellar family.

Speaking for the first time about his personal campaign, Dr Reiter said his suspicions were first aroused when a critically ill teenage girl was brought into the hospital by her grandfather.

The unconscious girl was immediately hooked up to life support.

"Her grandfather came up with the story that he had found the girl on his doorstep. He said that she had been abandoned by the mother who was part of a bizarre sect," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

"I did not like his tone and something did not seem right. What made me particularly suspicious was that he did not seem to think it important the answer any of my questions, simply demanding we make Kerstin better so that he could take her away again," he added.

A closer examination of Kerstin, 19, revealed more mysteries.

The teenager had almost no teeth, and a letter apparently left by the mother in the girl's clothing did not fit with the grandfather's claims that the mother was not concerned about her child.

"I could not believe that the mother of a seriously ill 19-year-old girl would simply load her off at the hospital and disappear. From the tone of the letter the mum had sent it was clear that she cared very deeply for her child," he said.

As Kerstin's condition worsened the doctor decided to act outside of the medical sphere - and to start a one-man campaign to track down the mother.

He said: "I was certain of only one thing, that the mother was the only one that could help. I contacted the grandfather again, and told him we desperately needed to speak to the mother."

"I was convinced she had information that was the key to the mystery illness. I could not understand why he was so reluctant to help, but he did agree."

The medic started a one-man campaign to track down the mother. Elisabeth saw a TV report on her cellar telly appealing for her to come forward and somehow persuaded her dad to let her out. Fritzl called Dr Reiter to warn him Elisabeth had returned and he was bringing her to the hospital. He told him not to call police but Dr Reiter alerted the authorities straightaway. Officers arrested Fritzl and his daughter as they were walking from the hospital.

ANI