Kolkata rape-murder: Why CBI arrested ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh again

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested ex-RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, and police officer Abhijit Mondal in connection with the rape and murder of a postgraduate doctor inside the seminar hall of the hospital on August 9.

Ghosh is already under judicial custody of the agency over corruption allegations during his tenure at the hospital. In addition to the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating allegations of money laundering against him and shared details of raids conducted so far in the case.

What are the charges against them?

The CBI slapped multiple charges against Ghosh on Saturday. “He was arrested for misleading the investigation and for his alleged role in the destruction of evidence by not declaring the death of the victim immediately and the considerable delay in registration of the FIR,” sources in the agency told PTI.

The agency has applied before a local court seeking remand of Ghosh to investigate the charges of rape and murder. He was arrested on September 2 in a case related to financial irregularities at the hospital during his tenure as principal.

Hearing a suo motu case over the issue, the Supreme Court on September 9 pointed out the discrepancy between the timings of the general diary (GD) entry and the registration of the FIR. “It’s very clear that there is a delay of at least 14 hours in registering the FIR,” the CJI DY Chandrachud said.

Mondal, officer in charge of Tala police station, was arrested after he failed to answer the agency’s questions in a satisfactory manner. He was arrested on allegations of evidence tampering and delay over registering the First Information Report (FIR) after the crime was reported. The hospital is under the jurisdiction of Tala police station.

“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,” said a CBI officer. Mondal was questioned for several hours on Saturday before his arrest.

The protesting doctors at Swasthya Bhavan celebrated the arrests. “We have been demanding the arrest of the former principal of the college, Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal, officer-in-charge of Tala police station, for their involvement in tampering with the evidence. We are very happy as the CBI has arrested them. The CBI should arrest others who have tampered with the evidence,” a junior doctor said.