Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 19: The responsibility of the investigation into the Kolkata doctor’s rape-murder case, has been handed over to two of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s top women officers, who have handled a few such notorious cases earlier with considerable success.
Ms Sampat Meena, a 1994 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand, who handled the Hathras rape-murder case and the Unnao rape case, is in overall charge of the case, and will be helped by officer Seema Pahuja, who was also part of the Hathras investigation team.
Ms Meena, an Additional Director, is now in charge of a team of 25 officers and will work in a supervisory capacity. The ground level investigation will be carried out by Ms Pahuja, who achieved a conviction in what was till then regarded as a blind case — the rape-murder of a Class 10 student in Himachal Pradesh.
The Gudiya case of 2017 had seared the hill state. The teen went missing while returning from school — the path went through a dense forest track where she was abducted. Her body was found two days later. She had been raped and strangled. Anil Kumar, a woodcutter, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021.
In April 2018, the CBI had revealed how it cracked the case — using advanced DNA technology of percentage and lineage matching. After questioning over 1000 locals, they finally tested the DNA of over 250 people and found a match to forensic samples in the father of the accused. The son, who was out on bail and on the run, was later traced.
In the 2017 Unnao rape case too, the team had secured a conviction. BJP leader and local MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar — who was later expelled from the party — was given life term in jail for the gang rape of a 17-year-old Dalit girl. He was also found guilty of the death of the girl’s father in judicial custody, for which he is serving a 10-year jail term.
In the 2020 Hathras case, which also generated headlines across the country, sparking massive public outrage, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted and gang-raped by four men of the so-called upper caste. A fortnight later, she succumbed to her injuries in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. What added to the public outrage was that her body was cremated by the Uttar Pradesh Police and the administration allegedly without the consent or the presence of her family.
Three of the four accused in the case have walked free. The fourth, Sandeep Thakur, has been convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and not of rape or murder. The court had based its judgment on the mismatch between the woman’s statement and the forensic evidence. The police had claimed there was no evidence of rape and the woman had died of a neck injury.
The state police were accused of massive lapses at every stage of the case — starting with the delay in filing of the First Information Report, then denial of rape and the hurried cremation of the body. In face of the public outrage, on October 3, 2020, the state government had suspended five police officers including the Superintendent of Police.
Meanwhile, the controversial former head of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh continued to be grilled by the CBI sleuths. The CBI has been questioning Dr Ghosh till midnight for the past three days and they have summoned him again on Monday. Among the questions he was being asked included, “Why was there such a hurry to declare this death a suicide? You are a doctor yourself. Did you not think it is important to keep the crime scene safe? On whose advice was the information given to the family and why was it devoid of facts? You must be well aware that tampering with evidence at the crime scene is a crime. Despite that, why did you not keep it safe till the investigation was completed? Why was the family of the doctor informed after several hours? Why was there a delay in showing the body to her family? What are the security arrangements in the hospital? Why did you resign immediately after the incident? What is the reason behind it?”
Officials suggest the former principal was yet to give satisfactory answers to these questions. Dr Ghosh, who had resigned two days after the incident, has also been asked about his steps immediately after the doctor’s body was found and about the sudden renovation of rooms near the seminar hall where the doctor’s body was found.
The CBI, which is also examining his call records and chat, has asked him to provide details of his phone calls before and after the incident that occurred on August 9. They are also planning to get his call and data consumption details from the service provider. The rape-murder incident has sparked a massive wave of anger across the country with doctors suspending non-emergency duties and hitting the streets for justice.
The CBI sources said the investigators may take a lie-detector test of Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the case arrested so far, on Tuesday. The Calcutta High Court has already granted permission for his polygraph test. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer who worked in the hospital and who was seen on CCTV leaving the suspected crime scene, is the key accused in the case. After allowing the lie-detector test, the high court deferred the hearing in the case to August 29.
