CBI Arrests RG Kar Ex-Principal Sandip Ghosh, Kolkata Cop Over FIR Delay In Doctor's Rape-Murder Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and a police official on charges of misleading the probe into the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run health facility last month.

Apart from Ghosh, who has earlier been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over financial irregularities at the hospital, CBI also picked up Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge at the nearby Tala police station that sent teams to the crime scene after the 31-year-old doctor’s body was discovered in the fourth-floor seminar room of the hospital. According to sources, two more Kolkata Police officials are under the CBI scanner. The probe agency is also questioning a Sub-Inspector of Tala Police Station regarding the case.

Ghosh is accused of being involved in causing “considerable delay in registration of FIR”, according to a petition by the agency in a CBI court on Saturday evening. 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 has invited the Supreme Court’s scrutiny. Sources suggested that CBI fears evidence destruction in the case.

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 has pointed to the lack of evidence in the Supreme Court as well.

CBI sources said they were not convinced about the answers Ghosh gave during his quizzing. While the former RG Kar principal had said that he got to know about the incident at 10:20 am, his driver had informed officials that he was asked to come to the Ghosh residence at 6am, the sources said.

Read More: Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case: Why CBI Has Arrested Sandip Ghosh And Is Seeking His Custody | Exclusive

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 policeman has been questioned eight times earlier and every time he gave different versions. He has been arrested and will be produced in the court tomorrow (Sunday),” a CBI officer told PTI news agency.

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, led to the passing of a stringent anti-rape bill in the state assembly, and sparked a bitter political war of words.

“The arrest of Abhijit Mondal; Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Tala Police Station (PS), has established that the Police were directly involved in tampering evidence and acted as a stimulant to create lacuna in order to derail the investigation into the Rape and Murder of the RG Kar PGT Lady Doctor,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari posted on X.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal should be “suspended immediately and Home Minister Mamata Banerjee must resign as she doesn’t have any moral authority left to continue as the head of the Home Dept”, he added, alleging that the “procedural lapses were well orchestrated and closely monitored by the top officials of @KolkataPolice”.

Sukanta Majumdar, Adhikari’s party colleague and a Union minister, echoed him.

The BJP has stepped up pressure on chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose government is under pressure in the face of urban outrage and protest rallies almost every day since the incident. Junior doctors in Kolkata have boycotted work, and the ruling Trinamool Congress says their protest is putting the health system under strain and turning fatal for patients needing emergency care. Despite repeated attempts, there have been no headway in talks between Banerjee and the doctors. Members of the ruling side, including Banerjee herself, has accused the BJP and the Left of politicisng the protests. Earlier, the state and police administration has rejected allegations of lapses in the probe.

“We have been demanding the arrest of…Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal, officer-in-charge of Tala police station for their involvement in tampering with the evidence. We are very happy as CBI has arrested them. CBI should arrest others also who have tampered with the evidence..,” a junior doctor, who is on protest, said.