Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 13: An application filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a narco analysis test on Sanjay Roy, the arrested accused in the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, was rejected by a Kolkata court on Friday after the accused refused to give his consent for the test in the court, sources said.
The central probe agency had appealed to the city-based Sealdah court, seeking permission to conduct the test on Roy. The court stated that the consent of the accused was mandatory for the test citing the 2010 Karnataka HC judgement.
As per sources, Roy had earlier agreed to the narco test in front of the CBI probe team but refused before the magistrate. The CBI believed that narco-analysis test could help the probe team verify the accused’s version of events, though its results are not acceptable as evidence in the court of law.
During a narco analysis test, the drug – sodium pentothal – is injected into the body of the subject, which takes him to a hypnotic state, and his imagination is neutralised, the CBI officer said. The CBI has already conducted a polygraph test on Roy inside the Presidency Correctional Home.
Meanwhile, help is pouring in for the agitating junior doctors continuing their protest near “Swastha Bhavan,” the west Bengal government health department headquarter, for the last four days. Irrespective of their economic background, people have contributed to the movement in what has been one of the most organic outpourings of support. Local food stall owners and tea sellers have been consistently sitting around the protest site and supplying food to the doctors.
A man came from Chandannagar, a town near Kolkata, with supplies and utensils to cook food for the protesting doctors. Locals said the police did not allow him to cook on the road, but he found a spot on the Jadavpur University Salt Lake campus where he set up a makeshift kitchen. Students and contractual workers from the campus have been cooking dinner in large quantities to feed and sustain the doctors. Every night, they cook and set out in a mini-truck chanting “We want justice!” to distribute food. Protesting doctors said they were overwhelmed by the support they have received.
“People have been placing orders online and directing them towards us. People have sent us water, dry food and medicines in huge quantities. We don’t even know who is sending these. The delivery persons keep saying someone called them and said give it to the junior doctors sitting outside Swastha Bhavan,” said a doctor. The doctors said a delivery arrives every 10 minutes. People have also set up charging points and bio toilets around the protest site for the protesters.
Supporters have come with eggs, bananas, juices, fruits, hand wash and other necessary items to help the doctors. Delivery persons came together as a community and handed over free bottled water and biscuits to the doctors. Some delivered tarpaulin sheets to help them build a makeshift shelter.