Kolkata doc death: CBI charges RG Kar hospital ex-principal with rape-murder, arrests one cop

Kolkata: In a significant development, the CBI on Saturday charged former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh, who is currently in judicial custody in a corruption case, with rape and murder in the case pertaining to the death of a doctor,  an official of the probe agency said.

The agency also arrested Abhijit Mondal, the officer in charge of Tala Police Station, for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of an on-duty woman medic in the RG Kar Hospital, he said.

The hospital is under the jurisdiction of Tala Police Station. Three persons have so far been arrested in connection with the rape and murder case.

On August 9, the semi-nude body of the woman postgraduate trainee was recovered from the seminar hall of the hospital. Mondal, who was on Saturday questioned by the CBI officers at their CGO Complex office here for several hours, was arrested in the evening after he failed to give them satisfying answers. He has been arrested on charges of destruction of evidence and delay in lodging the FIR, among others.

"The policeman has been questioned eight times earlier and every time he gave different versions. He has been arrested and will be produced in the court tomorrow," the CBI officer told PTI.

Earlier, one civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the rape and murder case which is now being investigated by the CBI on an order of the Calcutta High Court.

The central agency arrested Ghosh on September 2 in a case of financial irregularities at the hospital. CBI had applied in court seeking the remand of the Ghosh. The court has asked the jail authorities to produce him for CBI custody, the official added.

Talks to resolve impasse fall through
The proposed talks to resolve the impasse over the RG Kar issue fell through with the agitating doctors, who had agreed to join the meeting with the West Bengal government after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's appeal, claiming that they were asked to leave the venue "unceremoniously" despite relenting on their live-streaming demand.

Before leaving the gates of the CM's residence, where the talks were scheduled to be held, an agitating doctor told reporters they had agreed to attend the meeting without live-streaming or video recording, as requested by Banerjee.

"When we came here, we demanded video recording or live streaming of the talks. We were not allowed. Then the chief minister came out and appealed to us to join the talks, promising that we would receive the minutes of the meeting. We discussed it among ourselves and agreed to join the meeting without live streaming or video recording," the doctor said.

"When we conveyed this to Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, we were told to leave the venue because it was too late and they had been waiting for us for three hours. We were unceremoniously asked to leave," the doctor added.

Breaking down in tears before the camera, another doctor said this incident reflected the "true intentions" of the state government. "It shows who is not serious about the talks," the doctor said.

A video shared by the junior doctors showed Bhattacharya telling them to leave as it was too late. "Today it's over, we have been waiting for three hours but you people didn't come inside. It's too late now," she was heard saying.

The authenticity of the video shared by the junior doctors could not be independently verified by PTI. The scheduled meeting between Banerjee and the agitating junior doctors, who have been protesting over the RG Kar incident, did not take place even after a three-hour wait due to the impasse over live-streaming the meeting. Banerjee had made an earnest appeal to the junior doctors to join the meeting despite the impasse.
(With PTI inputs)