The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday told a Kolkata Court that more suspects have emerged during the investigation of a case linked with rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last month, and their role is being investigated. The court has also extended RG Kar Hospital’s former principal Sandip Ghosh’s CBI custody till September 25.
The CBI further informed that Ghosh and police officer Abhijit Mondal, who were arrested by the probe agency last week on charges of misleading the probe, are not cooperating in the investigation. It said that Tala Police station CCTV footage is being probed to identify all those who came to meet Mondal, the officer-in-charge of the Tala police station, around the time of the crime.
The probe agency has asked the court to allow it to conduct NARCO test of Ghosh of polygraph test of Mondal. The Kolkata Cop has been sent to CBI custody.
CBI Suspects Bigger Conspiracy
The CBI has claimed that “there could be a bigger conspiracy” and that both Ghosh and Mondal had played some “vital roles” in this crime. The two were in touch with each other, and the former issued instructions to the policeman on how to proceed with the rape-murder case.
Earlier this week, the CBI interrogated Ghosh and Mondal together and were asked to were asked to detail their activities on August 9 immediately after they got the news about the doctor being found dead at the hospital, they said.
“They were asked about their activities after hearing the news of the death of the doctor, why there was an unnecessary delay in registering the FIR and why the post-mortem examination was conducted even when no formal FIR was lodged. They were also asked about the various phone calls between them when police started investigating the crime,” an official had said.
The police officer was arrested on charges of destruction of evidence and others, an officer had news agency PTI, adding Mondal was also accused of delaying the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) in the case.
Additionally, the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) has cancelled the registration of Sandip Ghosh. He has been removed from the list of Registered Medical Practitioners maintained by the WBMC, an official was quoted by PTI as saying. His licence was cancelled under various provisions of the Bengal Medical Act, 1914.
Allegations Against Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal
A total of three persons have so far been arrested in connection with the case. Apart from Ghosh, who was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over financial mismanagement and irregularities at the hospital, the CBI arrested Mondal, the officer-in-charge at the Tala police station. RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is located in the jurisdiction of the Tala police station in north Kolkata.
A probe was initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the college authorities filed a complaint accusing Ghosh of misappropriating funds meant for development and research projects at the institution.
Ghosh is also accused of being involved in causing “considerable delay in registration of FIR”, according to a petition by the agency in a CBI court. While the trainee doctor’s body was found on the morning of August 9, the police took over 12 hours to convert the case of unnatural death into an FIR (first information report), a gap that had invited the Supreme Court’s scrutiny. Sources had suggested that CBI feared evidence destruction in the case.
The police arrested one person, a civic volunteer who had easy access to the hospital, soon after they launched an investigation, but the Calcutta high court handed over the probe to CBI amid allegations of evidence destruction and cover-up. The central agency had pointed to the lack of evidence in the Supreme Court as well.
Suspicion grew over police official Mondal’s role after the forensic report was inconclusive on rape, even as the post-mortem report was clear about sexual assault. The forensic report led to questions on whether body swab collection was done properly before what many have termed a hurried cremation of the victim. It also brought the evidence collection and documentation process under scrutiny.
The RG Kar incident has sparked massive protests, brought the functioning of the hospital as well as Bengal’s health system under the scanner, prompted a scrutiny of the case by the Calcutta HC and the Supreme Court, spawned allegations of a larger conspiracy.
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