Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 5: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case is claimed to have found a crucial document that raise suspicion of possible connection of the arrested former principal of the college Sandip Ghosh in the crime.
Sources said the CBI has found a document that showed that Dr Ghosh gave instructions to the state public works department (PWD) to conduct renovation in areas adjacent to the scene of the crime a day after victim’s body was recovered. The body of the victim was recovered on the morning of August 9 from the seminar room within the hospital premises.
Sources said the investigating officials secured a crucial document showing that Ghosh issued the permission letter to state PWD to conduct renovation work in the room and toilet adjacent to the seminar hall, which is the scene of the crime. The investigating officials have accessed that permission letter which bears the signature of Ghosh and is dated August 10, sources said.
It was earlier presumed that the permission letter to the PWD to start the renovation work was given by an administrative officer of the hospital on instructions issued before the incident. But the recovery of the document showed how keen Dr Ghosh was in getting the renovation completed.
The renovation work, however, could not be carried out following massive protests by the students’ fraternity within the hospital premises as soon as the work started.
Sources said the investigating officials believe that since the document shows Ghosh’s keenness in getting the renovation done, it can be handy in establishing the links between the two parallel investigations by the agency — the first being on the rape and murder case and the second on the financial irregularities at RG Kar.
The protesting representatives from the state’s medical fraternity have been claiming that the incident at RG Kar was not an isolated case of rape and murder and the victim was killed as she became aware of the irregularities by Dr Ghosh and his syndicate.
The family members of the deceased doctor on Thursday hurled new charges on the Kolkata police of attempting to suppress the case by hurriedly cremating the body of the deceased doctor. Family members of the deceased doctor joined the protesting medics at RG Kar hospital on Wednesday night.
Participating in the protests at the hospital, the parents also accused a senior police officer of trying to bribe them after the incident came to light. “The police, from the very beginning, tried to hush up the case. We were not allowed to see the body and had to wait at the police station while the body was taken for post-mortem examination. Later, when the body was handed over to us, a senior police official offered us money, which we immediately declined,” the father of the deceased doctor said. The parents claimed the police offered them money when their daughter’s body was still at their home. It was not clear if this money was offered as a compensation.
The parents of the postgraduate trainee said that they joined the protest on Wednesday night to support the junior doctors fighting for justice for their daughter. After the incident came to light, protests erupted across the State, with people from various sectors demanding justice for the victim.
The parents’ charges created a fresh political row between the opposition BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress. While the BJP leaders have targeted the Trinamool over the father’s allegations and said the police’s role in the case has been exposed, the TMC accused the opposition party of playing “vulture politics” over a painful incident and doubled down on the charge that fake narratives were being created.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said the parents’ interaction with the media last night has “exposed the role of Kolkata Police.” “And YOU Mamata Banerjee tried to suppress this case and protect the conspirators and deviate the direction of this case. You will be forced to answer the people of Bengal,” she said in a post on X.
Soon afterwards the TMC said, “A video has gone viral and it suggests that the parents were offered money by the police to hush up the case. In another video, the parents have said this allegation is false. They said they only want justice for their daughter. They are heart-broken. There should have been no politics here. Political parties should not bother them,” state minister Shashi Panja told the media.
The TMC supporters started sharing another video, in which the parents are asked if they were offered money in an attempt to hush up the case. “Nothing like this happened, we just want justice,” they are heard saying.
The Trinamool today played the second video at their press meet and said the CBI’s silence on the progress of its investigation has created a vacuum in which fake news and narratives are being manufactured. “Leading this fake news creation is BJP and its IT cell,” she said. “We have earlier seen much talk about the post-mortem report too… sensational claims like 150 gm semen, this is injustice towards the victim.”
“Twenty-three days have passed after the transfer of the case from Kolkata Police to CBI. There is no progress report from CBI. We demand that the CBI provide a detailed progress report of their investigation. When Kolkata police was investigating this, regular updates were given out through press conferences,” state minister Bratya Basu said.
The ruling party, which is under fire over the shocking incident, questioned if the CBI has nothing in the rape-murder case apart from what Kolkata Police handed over. It also suggested that the focus of the central agency’s investigation appears to have shifted from the rape-murder to financial irregularities, in which connection Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was arrested.
“The BJP has alleged that evidence was wiped off, why is CBI not coming out then and saying this?” Mr Basu asked. The Trinamool leaders did not comment on the other allegations levelled by the victim’s father.
The doctor’s family has alleged that they wanted the body preserved, but police created so much pressure that they were forced to go ahead with the cremation.
“We wanted the body preserved, but so much pressure was created. About 300-400 cops surrounded us. We returned home and found some 300 cops were standing outside. They created such a situation that we were forced to cremate her,” he alleged. He also said the cremation was rushed and the cost was not taken from the family. “My daughter went knowing that Bapi (father) could not even pay for this,” the victim’s father said. He also alleged that some police officers tried to get his signature on a blank sheet of paper. “I tore it up and threw it away.”
Meanwhile, a Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta. Who was considered to be a TMC supporter, was heckled yesterday when she had gone to take part in the “Reclaim the night” protest march. Videos of the “Go back” slogans and the subsequent pummeling of her car by the crowd has been strongly criticised by artistes of the film industry, who had so far backed the protests over the rape-murder of the young doctor.
Ms Sengupta had faced hostility from a group of protesters as she arrived in north Kolkata’s Shyambazar — one of the key protest venues. When she attempted to address the crowd, she faced angry protesters shouting “Go back”. As the situation escalated, the police and Ms Sengupta’s bodyguards escorted her to her vehicle, which then left the area.
In interviews to local dailies and television channels, the actor had expressed her anguish, saying she was not connected to any political party and had gone to stand with the protesters as a citizen. But the incident only exemplify the political colour the protest over the inhuman incident has assumed, some artistes said.