Ex-RG Kar Principal Tells CBI He Got First Call 30 Minutes After Discovery Of Doctor's Body: Report

CBI is investigating the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. Ex-principal Sandip Ghosh has been questioned for 15 days, including polygraph tests and voice analysis.

RG Kar Doctor Murder Case: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has subjected former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh to 15 days of intensive questioning in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the prestigious Kolkata-based institution. The probe has included polygraph tests and voice analysis, with investigators scrutinising inconsistencies in Ghosh's statements.

According to sources cited by CNN-News18, Ghosh has tried to shift the blame regarding why hospital authorities misled the victim’s parents and left the crime scene unattended for at least 40 minutes on the night of the incident. Despite two weeks of interrogation, the question remains as to why Ghosh, the principal at the time, was not immediately informed of the death and why there was a 30-minute delay in notifying him after the body was discovered.

Ghosh allegedly informed the CBI that he first learned about the death around 10.20 am on 9th August, when he returned a call from Sumit Roy Tapadar, an associate professor in the respiratory medicine department. The body was discovered at 9.30 am, and the police were informed at 10.10 am, indicating a delay of 40 minutes, News18 reported citing sources. Ghosh claims that he missed Tapadar’s initial call at 10 am because he was in the washroom.

After returning the call at 10.20 am, Ghosh reportedly left for the hospital, contacting the Tala police station, where the incharge informed him that the police were already on-site. Ghosh also stated that he called the medical superintendent, head of the chest medicine department, and the chairman of Rogi Kalyan Samiti while en route, arriving at the hospital by 11 am, News18 cited sources as informing.

RG Kar Doctor Case — Initial FIR Mentioned ‘Willful Rape With Murder’: Report

According to news agency IANS, the language used in the initial FIR registered by the police has also baffled the CBI investigators, particularly the phrase "willful rape with murder" by unknown miscreants.

Senior counsel Kaushik Gupta from the Calcutta High Court remarked that the term "willful rape" is legally meaningless, adding that any delay in informing the police could adversely affect the prosecution.

“A rape or a rape and murder cannot be unwilling. Secondly, as a legal practitioner, I too find the delay on the part of the hospital authorities in informing the police about the recovery of the body highly suspicious. Any time lapse in informing the police in such matters delays the process of filing the FIR, which can adversely impact the prosecution,” he told IANS.