Arrested doc Ashish Pandey sent to CBI custody; ex-RG Kar principal, cop to judicial remand

PTI, Kolkata, Oct 4, 2024 :  A court here on Friday sent arrested former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and now-suspended police officer Abhijit Mondal to 14-day judicial custody.

A special CBI court also sent another doctor, Ashish Pandey, to three-day custody of the central agency till October 7.

Producing Ghosh and Mondal before Alipore court here, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that Ghosh had conspired with Mondal to suppress the incident of rape and murder of an on-duty woman medic at the hospital.

The central probe agency cited findings of the forensic tests conducted on the mobile phone devices of the duo and pleaded before the court for their custody for further questioning, official sources said.

Stating that the investigation into the rape-murder incident “was underway in full swing”, the CBI also claimed that Ghosh tried to mislead investigators by describing the doctor’s death as a case of suicide, they said.

The agency also claimed that Ghosh was helped by the policeman in “tampering with evidence” and influencing witnesses.

The central agency, which produced Pandey before a special CBI court here, described him as one of Ghosh’s “trusted soldiers” who had been threatening students and accepting bribes to arrange for assignments, sources said.

It also claimed that Pandey, arrested for alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Hospital, was “unfit to be a house staff” and was backed by Ghosh to be in that position.

CBI also claimed that Pandey was allegedly running a “sex racket” at RG Kar Hospital, the sources in the agency said.

Officials of the agency later started questioning Pandey at its Nizam Palace office in connection with financial irregularities in RG Kar Hospital.

The agency is also investigating whether Pandey had any role in the rape-murder of the woman medic at RG Kar Hospital, they added.