Kolkata doctor rape-murder: What did CBI ask RG Kar ex-principal Sandip Ghosh? 10 points

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday subjected the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, to a marathon questioning session.

It was the second straight day that the former principal was interrogated by the agency over the grisly rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor in the seminar hall of the state-run hospital in Kolkata.

The Calcutta high court slammed the West Bengal government last week, saying Sandip Ghosh should have been the first person to be questioned at the hospital over the murder.

Here are 10 points on Kolkata rape and murder probe.

The CBI asked Sandip Ghosh where was he on the night of the rape and murder of the trainee doctor. The agency also asked him who informed him about the incident and what was his immediate reaction, reported PTI.

The CBI sleuths also corroborated his version with that of doctors, interns, and nurses who were on duty at the hospital on that night.

During the initial round of interrogation, the former principal was asked about his first reaction after getting the news of the doctor’s death, whom he instructed to inform the family and how and who contacted the police, the officials told the news agency. PTI quoted a CBI officer as saying that some of his answers were convoluted.

The officer said the CBI asked Sandip Ghosh about the weekly roster of the chest medicine department where the victim worked. It was observed that the victim doctor was made to work for up to 48 hours at a stretch.
The CBI has already questioned 20 people from a list of 40 people, including doctors and police officers.

The CBI has called two psychologists from New Delhi to take part in the questioning.

On Saturday, a CBI team reached Sambhunath Pandit Street in South Kolkata, where the main accused Sanjoy Roy lived in a rented house. The agency spoke to his mother about his recent whereabouts. The agency is attempting to draw a map of places the accused visited on the day of the rape and murder. They have also contacted his friends, doctors and police officials who were acquainted with the accused.

Amid the ongoing protests against the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Kolkata Police have imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 144 of the CrPC), for seven days. In an order released on Saturday by the commissioner of police, Vineet Kumar Goyal, it was stated that rallies, meetings, processions, dharnas, demonstrations, and the unlawful assembly of five or more persons are prohibited in the specified area of Kolkata.

“…In exercise of the power conferred by Sub-Section (1) of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, read with Sub-Section (3) of the said Section, I, Vineet Kumar Goyal, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, being an Executive Magistrate for the Metropolitan area of Kolkata as well as the district of South 24 Parganas (within the limits of the suburbs of Kolkata falling under Kolkata police jurisdiction), do hereby prohibit, for a period of seven (7) days from 18.08.2024 to 24.08.2024, or until further notice, any unlawful assembly of five (5) or more persons, carrying of lathis, any lethal or other dangerous weapons, or the commission of any act likely to cause a breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquility within the specified area in the town of Kolkata,” the order stated.

The trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of the hospital earlier this month. Her autopsy report revealed that she was tortured before being strangled. There were multiple injuries on her body and blood was oozing out of her eyes, private parts and mouth.