Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 27: Contrary to the general belief, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the rape and murder of the trainee postgraduate doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is learnt to have come to the conclusion that the horrific crime that shook the conscience of the nation was not a case of gang rape but committed by a sole criminal Sanjay Roy who was arrested by the Kolkata police within 12 hours of the crime on August 9.
The Central agency, however, is learnt to considering to consult several other medical and forensic experts before drawing its conclusion on the case which has generated much of political heat leading to the demand for resignation from the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee by the opposition BJP and nation-wide strike by the resident doctors demanding security at their work-places.
Official sources said both the DNA test and forensic reports indicated only arrested accused Sanjay Roy’s involvement in the rape and murder of the trainee doctor. However, to be doubly sure, the CBI will consult All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) experts for a final opinion. Sources said so far there is no evidence to suggest involvement of any other person in the rape and murder.
“The CBI wants to rule out any lacuna, so AIIMS experts will be asked for a final opinion on the DNA and forensic reports,” the source said.
The family of the victim had suspected gang rape. However, on Tuesday, ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra posted on X: “It wasn’t gang rape, there was no fracture, no hurried cremation and autopsy was videographed. Killer was caught within 12 hours and the CBI is charge of the case.”
The polygraph test conducted on Roy, ex-principal of RG Kar Sandip Ghosh and five others have also not given any leads to the CBI about the role of any other individual, as per officials in the know. Sources said Roy’s polygraph test focused on trying to ascertain if anyone else accompanied him to the seminar hall of R G Kar’s chest department, when the crime was committed.
Roy has been captured on CCTV entering the hospital alone at 4.03 am on August 9. “Polygraph test answers are usually in yes or no. Body parameters are analysed by experts to ascertain if a person is lying. The forensic team put questions to Roy if anyone else colluded with him. The answers were in the negative,” an official involved in the probe said.
Officials added that although polygraph was not admissible evidence, the decision to carry out the test on Roy was taken to look for any possible leads that he may not have provided to police or the CBI during the sustained interrogation.
Officials said the questioning of civic volunteer Saurabh Bhattacharya and corroborative evidence show that Roy solicited sex before the crime. Bhattacharya in his statement to the CBI has allegedly said Roy accompanied him to two red-light areas — Sonagachi and Chetla — on August 8. He also allegedly solicited sex from two women.
One of the two women “is an official known to Roy,” while the second was a married woman whom Roy refers to as his girlfriend, said officials. The statements of the two women have also been recorded by the investigators. Roy’s mobile phone records and his mobile tower location were crucial corroborative evidence in this regard, officials said.
The polygraph test conducted on Sanjay Roy, the main accused in the crime, reportedly flagged several false and unconvincing answers. Days after Roy claimed innocence in the case, he was subjected to the lie-detection test by the CBI on Sunday (August 25). During the test, he said the woman doctor was already dead when he reached the seminar hall of the RG Kar hospital where the body was found on August 9.
Sources said he appeared to be nervous and anxious when he took the polygraph. He was confronted with multiple evidence to which he cited alibis and told the investigation team that the victim was already dead when he spotted her, following which he ran from the premises in fear, the report said.
The report said Roy’s lawyer Kavita Sarkar alleged that the defence counsel was not informed about the time and venue of the polygraph test. As a result of this, a defence lawyer was unable to be present during the test, which was in violation of guidelines by the National Human Rights Commission.
A civic volunteer of the Kolkata Police, 33-year-old Roy was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10. However, after initially confessing to the crime and even providing help in reconstructing the incident, he made a U-turn and claimed innocence saying he was being framed.
He was arrested after the police found a Bluetooth device near the doctor’s body. CCTV footage also showed him on the third floor of the hospital where the seminar hall is situated. Roy reportedly told his jail guards that he does not know anything about the rape and murder at the RG Kar hospital. In fact, he consented to the polygraph test after making similar claims before the additional chief judicial magistrate court in Sealdah. He told the court that he wanted to take the test to prove his innocence.
Sources said there were glaring inconsistencies in his claim of innocence and he has been trying to mislead the investigation team. An officer said he could not provide an explanation for the injuries to his face and why he was present in the building around the time the crime was committed. An officer said the lie-detection test was conducted at Kolkata’s Presidency Jail, where the main accused is currently lodged. The test was over after around four hours.
A team of polygraph specialists were flown to Kolkata from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Delhi. Four persons, including former principal Sandip Ghosh, also underwent the polygraph test on August 24. It also conducted another round of polygraph test on Ghosh on Monday.
The CBI has sought permission from a local court in Kolkata to put seven persons, including Roy and Ghosh, through the lie-detector test that cannot be used as evidence during the trial. The findings, however, give the agency a direction to further the probe.
The anti-corruption branch of the CBI also conducted searches on August 25 at multiple locations connected to Sandip Ghosh and his relatives in West Bengal’s Kolkata. On August 24, the CBI filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Dr Sandip Ghosh based on directives from the Calcutta High Court.
The investigation was initiated after a single bench of the High Court ordered the CBI to probe the alleged corruption at the medical college during his tenure as the principal. The Calcutta High Court has granted the CBI three weeks to submit a progress report on the investigation, which is to be presented on September 17.