R.G. Kar case: Two Trinamool MLAs under the scanner of investigative agencies

The CBI has questioned TMC MLAs Nirmal Ghosh and Sudipto Roy

Two Trinamool Congress leaders have come under the scanner of Central investigative agencies in connection with the rape and murder of a doctor on duty at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) on August 9. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogated Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh for over seven hours on Monday.

The victim’s parents had accused Mr. Ghosh and the police for pushing for a quick cremation on August 9.

“I had gone to the RGKMCH at around 3.30 p.m. on August 9. Abhaya’s house falls in my Assembly constituency, she was a doctor in my constituency. I went there because I have a moral responsibility as the local MLA,” Mr. Ghosh said, after he left the CBI office on Monday night. 

The Panihati MLA also claimed that he had come to the CBI office after seeking an appointment with the investigating agency and that he had “a lot to say” to the officials.

“On the night of August 9, I addressed the press and said that the culprits should be hanged for a heinous crime like this. This demand, made by the government and me, has remained unchanged,” Mr. Ghosh added.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MLA from Serampore Sudipto Roy has been questioned by the CBI on the rape and murder case and by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with allegations of financial irregularities and corruption at RGKMCH. 

Earlier this month, the CBI and the ED had conducted searches at Dr. Roy’s properties. Dr. Roy is the president of the West Bengal Medical Council, the body that issues medical registration to doctors, enabling them to practise medicine in the State. He was also at the helm of a patient welfare committee of the RGKMCH. 

He is also considered close to former RGKMCH principal Sandip Kumar Ghosh. Dr. Ghosh has been arrested over allegations of financial irregularities at the RGKMCH as well as on charges of tampering with evidence and delay in filing a complaint after a doctor was found raped and killed in the seminar room of the RGKMCH.

R.G. Kar authorities summoned

The CBI once again summoned RGKMCH doctor Apurba Biswas on Tuesday. He was one of the doctors in the forensic team that performed the initial autopsy.

Recently, Dr. Biswas had made controversial claims about the victim’s relative allegedly threatening him with dire consequences if the post-mortem was not done quickly.

On Tuesday, former Medical Superintendent of RGKMCH Sanjay Vashisht was also summoned to the CBI office. 

Meanwhile, the inquiry committee of RGKMCH has added eight more names to the list of 51 doctors and medical students who were summoned on September 11, on allegations of perpetuating a culture of threat, intimidation and blackmail.

The first list, which was issued on September 9, said that those named had been “engaging in behaviour that promotes a culture of intimidation, endangering the democratic atmosphere of the institution”. 

BJP leaders react

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have made several remarks on the protests by the resident doctors of State-run medical colleges. Terming the doctors’ protests “drama”, Dilip Ghosh, a former BJP MP, raised questions on the objective of the prolonged agitations in demand for justice for the victim.

“What was the point of so much drama? All those [Police and Health Department officials] who were transferred got promotions. What happened after all the candlelight marches and all the clapping?” he asked. “Why did people have to suffer for a month and a half? Has the situation in the hospitals changed?” 

Former cricketer and BJP MLA Ashok Dinda said the junior doctors had carried out protests “for their own selfish reasons”.

“The movement was not for Abhaya. These are not my words, the common people are saying this,” the MLA said on Monday. “The common people stood by them but withdrew when they understood that the doctors’ agitation took a different turn.”

Published - September 25, 2024 02:11 am IST