Kolkata doctor rape-murder: CBI seeks polygraph test on former principal, 4 others

The CBI on Thursday sought a polygraph test on former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh and four other doctors in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at the medical facility, officials said.
The CBI took Ghosh and four other junior doctors, who were on duty on the date of the incident on August 9, to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's court at Sealdah in north Kolkata, for seeking its permission to conduct the lie detection test on them, they said.

The test can only be done after permission from the court and the consent of the suspect, the officials said.
An in-camera closed-door hearing on the matter took place before the ACJM this evening.

The CBI has already prayed for a polygraph test on the arrested Kolkata Police civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the prime suspect in the case, and is awaiting the court's nod for going ahead with the test.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court set a 5 pm deadline on Friday inside which the magistrate concerned would have to pass an order on the agency's appeal with respect to Roy's test.

Earlier in the day, the CBI alleged in the apex court that there was an attempt by the local police to cover-up the rape and killing of the post-graduate medic, as the crime scene was altered by the time the federal agency took over the probe.
Although results of lie detector tests are inadmissible in court, they help in determining the course of investigations, an official said.

The agency may have reasons to believe that the suspect as well as the former principal and his colleagues are suppressing information at their questioning sessions. That's why they may have chosen to appeal for the lie detector test, a former police officer said.

A polygraph test can help in assessing inaccuracies in statements of suspects and witnesses. By monitoring their psychological responses heart rate, breathing patterns, sweating and blood pressure investigators can determine if there are discrepancies in their response.

The medic's body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital's chest department on the morning of August 9. The incident has sparked protests across the country.