Kolkata doctor murder case: STF launched to investigate corruption allegations at RG Kar hospital

PTC News Desk: The Bengal government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of financial irregularities at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. These allegations span from 2021 to the present. The formation of the SIT comes at a time of national outrage over the brutal rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at the hospital on August 9.

According to an official statement, the SIT will be led by Inspector General of Police Pranav Kumar. The team also includes Waquar Reza, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Murshidabad Range, Soma Das Mitra, DIG of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and Indira Mukherjee, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) with Kolkata Police. The SIT has been directed to submit its preliminary report to the Bengal government within a month.

The financial misconduct allegations, which are a focal point of this investigation, surfaced during the tenure of Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College. Dr. Ghosh has been a central figure in the ongoing investigation, particularly concerning his management of the case involving the woman trainee doctor. On Sunday, he was interrogated for several hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the fourth consecutive day.

Dr. Ghosh was asked to clarify his actions upon learning of the doctor’s death, including his reasons for contacting the victim’s family and why he delayed allowing the parents to see their daughter’s body for nearly three hours. Additionally, the former principal faced questions about who authorized the renovation of rooms adjacent to the seminar hall where the postgraduate trainee’s body was discovered in a semi-naked condition on August 9.

In a related development, Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police who was arrested in connection with the case, is set to undergo a polygraph test. Sources revealed that a local court granted the CBI permission to conduct the test on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case involving the rape and murder of the woman trainee doctor today. A three-judge bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, will preside over the matter.

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