Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 24: Healthcare services were affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal on Saturday as junior doctors continued their cease-work for the 16th consecutive day to protest the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a corruption case against the former principal Sandip Ghosh after taking over relevant documents from SIT on Saturday.
“Our protest will continue till justice is served to our sister. There cannot be any alternative to that,” the agitating doctors said.
The CBI officers and CBI lawyers submitted an FIR copy before the Chief Judicial magistrate in Alipore Court regarding the corruption case against Sandip Ghosh following Calcutta High Court’s Friday order.
In a twist to the investigations into the case so far, Sanjay Roy, the primary suspect in the case and by far the sole arrestee, on Saturday denied having committed the crime and claimed that he was being framed.
Breaking down in front of the magistrate when questioned about his consent to a polygraph test, Roy said, “I have not committed any crime. I am being framed. Maybe the polygraph test will prove that.”
The relatives and neighbours of Sanjay Roy have claimed several facts as the social media is loaded with facts, hearsay and half-truths about the accused. According to his mother, Roy has been trapped in the case while his mother-in-law has said that he should be hanged for committing the horrendous crime. Some reports said that Roy married four times, others mentioned he was addicted to porn and often visited prostitutes. Roy’s mother has claimed that her son is harmless and indicated that someone has trapped him.
On Friday, a special court in Kolkata had allowed a polygraph test for Roy. Experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Delhi have now begun the polygraph test of Sanjay Roy, former principal Sandip Ghosh and 5 other individuals.
Roy’s arrest followed evidence from CCTV footage and a Bluetooth device found near the victim’s body. Roy, who joined the Kolkata Police as a civic volunteer in 2019, was seen entering the seminar hall where the body was discovered.
The CCTV footage of Sanjay Roy walking in the corridor of the fourth floor of the medical facility, has now surfaced on the social media. According to the footage, the accused can be seen walking towards the seminar room along the corridor on the fourth floor of the medical facility on the night of August 9, hours before he allegedly committed the heinous act. Roy is seen wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with a helmet in hand — a helmet that is notably part of the uniform issued to Kolkata Police personnel. Sanjay Roy’s motorbike was confiscated by Kolkata Police and has been taken to the CBI office.
The court has also approved lie-detection tests for Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the medical college, and four doctors who were on duty during the night of August 8-9.
Meanwhile, former students of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital have alleged corruption and malpractices by ex-principal Sandip Ghosh. Accusations include demanding bribes for in-house staff positions and cancelling registrations of those who reported irregularities.
The CBI took over the probe about financial irregularities by Dr Ghosh from a state-constituted Special Investigation (SIT) after directions by the Calcutta High Court. The order was issued on a petition by former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Akhtar Ali, who requested a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into alleged financial misconduct at the institution.
On August 20, the Kolkata Police had registered a corruption case against Dr Ghosh after the West Bengal government by Mamata Banerjee formed an SIT to probe the allegations of financial misconduct at the state-run hospital since 2021. The SIT handed over all the necessary documents to the CBI today which re-registered the First Information Report.
Dr Ghosh had been questioned for nearly 88 hours by the CBI and continued it’s questioning on Saturday and also conducted a polygraph test on him. The Calcutta High Court on Friday gave its go-ahead to the CBI for the polygraph test On Mr Ghosh and five others including the main accused, Sanjay Roy. The CBI has been given a deadline of three weeks to submit a progress report on the investigation, which is to be presented on September 17.
Meanwhile, a delegation of agitating resident doctors met the CBI officials on Friday regarding the progress in the investigation into the rape and murder case. A member of the delegation later expressed dissatisfaction over the responses provided by the investigative agency. Dr Kinjal, a representative of the delegation, said they asked for a time limit from the CBI to find out the people involved in the case but it said it was not possible to set a time limit.
“Our delegation of five people who went to meet the CBI at CGO Complex yesterday, did not get any satisfactory answer even from there. Our only demand is justice. We told the CBI that the motive behind our ongoing protest is justice, which is in your hands because all of you are investigating officers. So the sooner you can tell us who were involved, we can set the direction our protest. They told us to just keep faith in them. We also asked about the time limit, the CBI said it is not possible but as soon as possible,” he said.
Dr Kinjal also mentioned that outpatient departments (OPDs) at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital are currently not operational due to the protest, although emergency services continue to function with senior doctors attending to patients.