The murder and rape case at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has witnessed some major developments recently. As of today, August 23, the Sealdah Court had remanded 14 days of judicial custody of the main accused in the rape and murder case of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The main accused, Sanjay Roy, will remain in judicial custody until September 6, 2024, under the supervision of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In another development, the Calcutta High Court has also granted permission to the CBI to conduct a polygraph test on Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and five others related to the incident. These five include four doctors who had dinner with the deceased doctor on the day the incident occurred, as well as one civic volunteer.
The Calcutta High Court has also transferred the investigation of financial irregularities involving Dr. Sandip Ghosh, previously handled by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), to the CBI. The decision was made while hearing a petition filed by Dr. Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent of the hospital, who accused Dr. Ghosh of financial misconduct and unethical practices.
The High Court assigned the CBI to investigate the matter, as it is also handling the investigation into the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital.
Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj has ordered the SIT to hand over all investigation documents to the CBI by 10 a.m. on August 24. The Court has granted the CBI three weeks to submit a progress report on the investigation, which is to be presented on September 17.
Furthermore, the Court directed that the petitioner, Akhtar Ali, may request security from the CBI if necessary.
Speaking on the verdict of the High Court, Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said, “I welcome this judgement… CBI will start conducting an inquiry into this from tomorrow. A huge scam has taken place… Close associates of Mamata Banerjee are involved in this scam. In the case of the money trail, ED should also conduct the investigation.”
On the same matter, BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay said, “I welcome this order… The SIT was formed to suppress all the scams committed by Sandip Ghosh and this was another episode of Mamata Banerjee to destroy all evidence.”
On the matter of the 14-day judicial custody of accused Sanjay Roy, his sister said, “I have not spoken to him in 17 years. Neither did he visit me nor did I visit him. I have not seen him in years. So, I am unable to say anything… As a child, he was normal like all other children. I never saw anything odd… He was in the police job (civic volunteer), so he sometimes had a day shift or sometimes a night shift. So, I never saw him… I never heard anything about him that he got into a fight or anything… I don’t know whether he has done anything. If he has indeed done something, I will accept any punishment given to him. It is very wrong if he has done this to a girl.”
A delegation of junior doctors from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was also summoned to the CBI Special Crime Branch at the CGO complex in Salt Lake to meet CBI officers today.
The protest continued as BJP workers staged a demonstration in Kolkata and Siliguri. Actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, who joined the protest, spoke out against the police, accusing them of attempting to suppress evidence related to the crime.
“People are protesting across the country against the rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital… This is a protest against the police force that tried to suppress the evidence. I welcome the Calcutta High Court’s decision to task the CBI with investigating all instances of irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital,” she said.
CISF Deputy Inspector General along with other officers also took stock of and status of the security deployment at the college and hospital complex earlier this evening, following the Supreme Court’s order to hand over security of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) during the hearing of the suo motu case of the rape and murder of the trainee doctor there on August 20.
CISF personnel were deployed to beef up the security at the hospital and college complex in all shifts.
This move comes as West Bengal faces a period of heightened agitation, with protesters voicing various grievances. The CISF’s intervention is expected to bolster security efforts and help mitigate any potential threats to public peace.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 22, urging the central government to bring in central legalisation and set up fast-track courts for “sensitive” issues to ensure fast speedy trial in the wake of the national outrage over the RG Kar medical hospital incident.
(with inputs from ANI)
