Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Top officers of the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) on Wednesday did a recce of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata before taking over the responsibility of the security of the institution, the scene of the horrific rape and murder of a trainee postgraduate doctor on August 9.
The CISF, which provide the security at the airports and the Parliament building, has been tasked with the security arrangements at the state-run hospital after a shocking incident of vandalism in the aftermath of a 31-year-old doctor’s rape and murder that has shaken the nation.
Senior CISF officer K Pratap Singh, who visited the hospital on Wednesday morning, told the media, “Let us do our job. We have come here for some assignment. Let us finish our work, then senior officers will brief you. I am doing my job mandated by higher authorities.”
The central force’s recce comes after the Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the city police’s response when a mob stormed the hospital in the early hours of August 15 and damaged medical equipment and supplies on two floors. The mob violence took place during a ‘reclaim the night’ protest in Kolkata and several other cities to seek justice for the doctor.
“We are unable to comprehend how the State was not prepared to deal with the incident of vandalization of the premises of the hospital,” the Supreme Court wondered.
The court noted that a majority of doctors of the hospital have left the campus after the August 15 mob violence. It was necessary to create a safe environment so that doctors can return and treat patients. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta then assured the court that central forces would guard the premises. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal government, said he had no objection. At the hospital, a huge protest is on to demand justice for the victim of the horrifying rape-murder.
The protesting doctors and students have welcomed the court’s order on deploying Central Armed Police Forces at the medical college. But a section of students said they hoped the Supreme Court would arrange better security as the mob violence has left doctors and students traumatised who have fled considering personal safety.
“We have to address how the deployment will be implemented and what it would mean for practising doctors at the hospital and what security measures are being taken elsewhere,” a doctor said. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud Tuesday heard the case of rape and murder. The higher court constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a national protocol to ensure the safety and facilities of doctors and various bodies representing the doctors throughout the country accepted the SC’s decision.
For the sixth consecutive day, the CBI n Wednesday re-summoned the former principal of the medical college Sandip Ghosh on the horrific incident. Dr Ghosh, whose handling of the situation after the doctor’s body was found at a seminar hall on August 9 has come under the scanner, refused to answer questions from the media.
Over the past five days, Sandip Ghosh has been questioned for a total of 64 hours, according to CBI officials. Separately, the Bengal government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of financial irregularities during Sandip Ghosh’s tenure as principal of the state-run institution.
Left red-faced after the top court’s remarks on police response during the mob attack, the Bengal government has now suspended three officers including two Assistant Police Commissioners in connection with the incident of vandalism. “Three officers have been suspended… Two are Assistant Police Commissioners and one is an inspector,” an official said, adding that further investigation into the matter was underway.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police said on Wednesday that the only accused arrested in the rape and murder case Sanjoy Roy had gone to two brothels in the city the night he allegedly committed the crime. A civic volunteer at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sanjoy went to the red light area in Sonagachi on August 8 night, police sources said. There, he drank alcohol and visited two brothels one after another, sources said.
He then went to the hospital after midnight. He was arrested based on CCTV footage in which he was seen entering and leaving the seminar hall, where the junior doctor had gone to sleep.
For the second day in a row, the CBI questioned Anup Dutta, an assistant sub-inspector and member of the city police welfare board. Mr Dutta’s proximity to Sanjoy Roy is suspected to have led CBI officers to understand how Sanjoy Roy could have had free access to police barracks where he stayed, and within an institution like RG Kar Hospital where he could move around freely at all times of the day and night.
The CBI has reportedly accessed multiple photographs showing Dutta and Roy together, prompting them to dig out further details on the arrested man from the officer. Dutta, however, was seen sprinting towards the CBI office to avoid reporters when they asked him how long he knew the accused for.
The four-member state SIT spoke to former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College, Dr Akhtar Ali, the whistleblower and first complainant of alleged financial irregularities by Sandip Ghosh, at the premises of Swasthya Bhawan, the state health department headquarters.
Dr Ali also moved the Calcutta High Court seeking an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against Dr Ghosh alleging financial irregularities by him during his tenure at the State-run facility.
Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj granted permission to Akhtar Ali to file the petition, seeking an order directing the Enforcement Directorate to probe alleged financial irregularities against Dr Ghosh. Dr Ali had earlier claimed that he had complained against Dr Ghosh in 2023 to the West Bengal government authorities.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress workers on Wednesday staged a rally in Kolkata to protest the rape-murder incident. Senior leaders, including former PCC president Abdul Mannan and veteran leader Pradip Bhattacharya, along with other party members, were stopped at Central Avenue near the police headquarters and detained, they added.
BJP workers led by West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar staged a protest in Kolkata demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the wake of Supreme Court’s observation in the rape and murder case of trainee doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said their demand was the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and that the protest would continue till September 5.
Sukanta Majumdar said, “Yesterday’s verdict of the Supreme Court shows that the Court does not have faith in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal Government and that the Commissioner of Police should be removed immediately. Atrocities on women are taking place in the State one after the other under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. This shows that Mamata Banerjee has no control over the administration, so it is our demand that she should resign. We are going to protest until 5th September.”
The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, posed a question to the striking doctors continuing their agitation for the 12 days. The TMC leader Kunal Ghosh asked how the medicos would respond if security forces had gone on strike to demand action against those behind the 2019 Pulwama attack.
“With a request to doctors to end their strike, I have a question. There has been no justice in the Pulwama case. So, if jawans desert the borders and start a ‘we want justice’ strike, how would they see it?” Kunal Ghosh who has been articulating the party’s position in the aftermath of the rape-murder horror, said in a post on X.
The TMC leader’s poser come at a time when the Mamata Banerjee-led party is under fire over its handling of the heinous crime. Last Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation into the sensitive case to the CBI noting that Kolkata Police had made no significant progress in the case. The TMC has countered the criticism over the incident by questioning what progress the CBI has made in the last eight days after it took over the probe.