R G Kar Hospital’s ex-principal appears before CBI for 2nd day

PTI, Kolkata, Aug 17 2024 : The former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital Dr Sandip Ghosh on Saturday appeared before the CBI for questioning for the second consecutive day in connection with the rape and murder of a doctor.

On Friday, the agency escorted the former hospital principal for questioning which continued till 3 am on Saturday.

Ghosh was made to sit in a room at the CBI's city office here at the CGO Complex till 9.30 pm after which the grilling session started, an officer said.

Hours later, Ghosh reached the CBI office for the second time a little before 10.30 am for his second round of examination.

During his first round of questioning, the former principal was asked about his first reaction after getting the news of the doctor's death whom he instructed to inform the family and how and who contacted the police, the officer said.

"Certain answers were convoluted. He was grilled till early Saturday and then allowed to leave for home," the officer told PTI.

Ghosh was asked to appear before its officers again on Saturday morning following which he reached the CBI office.

Ghosh was also asked about the weekly roster where the victim was seen to be put on duty for gruelling 36 hours or at times even 48 hours, he said.

The former principal had resigned from the post two days after the body was discovered. He had expressed fears of being attacked, prompting his lawyer to seek protection from the Calcutta High Court. The court directed him to approach a single bench.

The body of the post-graduate trainee doctor was found in the Kar Hospital's seminar room on August 9. Police arrested a civic volunteer the next day in this connection.

In the latest round of questioning, he was quizzed about his whereabouts on the night of the death of the postgraduate trainee, who called him to inform about the incident, and his primary reaction to it, the officials said.

The CBI sleuths also corroborated his version with that of doctors, interns, and nurses who were on duty at the hospital on that night.

During the initial round of interrogation, the former principal was asked about his first reaction after getting the news of the doctor’s death, whom he instructed to inform the family and how and who contacted the police, the officials said.

“Certain answers were convoluted. He was grilled till early Saturday and then allowed to leave for home before he was asked to appear again,” a CBI officer told PTI.

Ghosh had resigned from the post two days after the trainee doctor’s body was discovered on August 9.

The CBI team also enquired about the weekly roster of the chest medicine department where the victim was seen to be put on duty for a gruelling 36 hours at a stretch or, at times, even 48 hours, he said.

The probe agency has prepared a list of around 40 people, including doctors and police officers, whom they would be questioning as a part of its investigation, the officer said, adding, they have already quizzed over 20 people so far.

A couple of psychologists from New Delhi also flew down to Kolkata on Saturday to take part in the questioning, the officer said.

Separate teams of the central investigating agency also reached the crime scene at the RG Kar hospital and the barrack of the Kolkata Police’s Armed Forces fourth battalion in Salt Lake, where the arrested prime accused, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, was putting up.

At RG Kar hospital, the investigators collected samples and sent those to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory for testing, the officer said.

Later, the same team reached Sambhunath Pandit Street in South Kolkata, Roy’s rented residence, and spoke to his mother about his recent whereabouts and recorded her written statement, he said.

“We are trying to draw a map of all those places where he had been to on that day. We are also trying to talk to his friends, doctors and police officers who know him,” the officer said.