Kolkata case: RG Kar ex-principal Sandip Ghosh’s ‘lavish bungalow’ under scrutiny after ED raids, says report
A lavish bungalow belonging to Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital who is currently in CBI custody over alleged financial irregularties, has come under scrutiny after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on multiple locations linked to him in West Bengal on Friday.
During the raids, ED officials detained Prasun Chattopadhyay, an aide of Sandip Ghosh. Ghosh and three associates were earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on September 3 over alleged financial irregularities at the state-run RG Kar hospital.
Following Prasun Chattopadhyay’s detention at his residence in Subhasgram, South 24 Parganas, ED officials took him to Madhya Narayanpur in Canning. There, Sandip Ghosh is alleged to have built a multi-crore farm house-cum-bungalow on a two-bigha plot three years ago, a property that Ghosh reportedly frequented with his family, News18 reporteed citing local residents.
The report claimed that the bungalow, named “Sangeeta Sandip Villa”, belongs to Sandip Ghosh, as they often saw him visiting the property with his wife and family. They also mentioned that Sandip Ghosh named the bungalow after himself and his wife, Sangeeta Ghosh, as reported by the local media outlet Ananda Bazar.
The ED’s raids were part of a broader operation involving simultaneous searches at nine locations in Kolkata and its suburbs since early Friday morning, related to alleged financial misconduct at RG Kar Hospital during Ghosh’s tenure as principal.
The investigation into financial misconduct at the hospital, led by the CBI and ED, began following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor on August 9 at RG Kar hospital, which occurred during Ghosh’s tenure as principal.
ED raids multiple locations linked to Sandip Ghosh
– The Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained Prasun Chattopadhyay, a data entry operator at Calcutta National Medical College and an aide of Sandip Ghosh, on Friday.
– The ED has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Ghosh, which functions similarly to a First Information Report (FIR) in criminal cases.
– Raids were conducted at multiple locations, including Ghosh’s residence in Beliaghata, east Kolkata, and dual apartments owned by his relatives in Milan Palli near Airport Gate number 2 in the northern part of the city.
– After a nearly three-hour wait, the ED gained access to Ghosh’s Beliaghata house at 9.30 am Ghosh’s wife, who was not present initially, returned later to unlock the house for the officers.
– ED teams also searched the residences of arrested medical equipment supplier Biplab Sinha and Kaushik Koley, an accountant at Sinha’s firm, in Sankrail, Howrah.
– At Milan Palli, ED began searching around 11.30 am for two apartments owned and rented by Ghosh’s sister-in-law, Arpita Bera, and her husband, Pritin, both doctors at government institutions. Ghosh reportedly frequented the second rented apartment.
– An ED officer was seen carrying a black trolley bag out of one of the apartments during the raid.
– Another ED team searched Ghosh’s in-laws’ house in Baidyabati, Hooghly, around 7 am but found it locked. They then moved to Kunal Roy’s residence in the area, which works in the medical sector.
– ED also searched the home of Ankur Roy, a laundromat owner in Madurdaha, eastern Kolkata. Roy’s name reportedly surfaced during the interrogation of the arrested suspects.
– ED officials also searched Crescent Manufacturing Private Ltd’s office on Camac Street in central Kolkata’s business district.