The CBI on Sunday launched searches at 15 locations, including the premises of former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh, in connection with a corruption case registered by the agency.
The action comes a day after the probe agency filed a case alleging financial irregularities at the Kolkata hospital, where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered on August 9. The agency took over the investigation from the special investigation team formed by the West Bengal government, following a directive from the Calcutta High Court.
The court had ordered a CBI probe based on a plea by Akhtar Ali, former Deputy Superintendent of the hospital, who alleged financial misconduct during Ghosh’s tenure as principal.
The High Court had previously handed over the investigation into the rape and murder of the trainee doctor to the CBI, and it has now also transferred the corruption probe to the central agency.
“This Court directs that the investigation be transferred to the CBI, given that the case involved serious allegations and multiple agencies handling different aspects of the case could lead to inefficiencies or inconsistency for comprehensive justice, unnecessary delays in the judicial process, and potential misinterpretation of information, thereby undermining effective and credible enforcement
. Therefore, the investigation should not be fragmented between different agencies. Handing over the investigation to the CBI ensures consistency,” Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj stated in his order. The High Court has directed the CBI to submit a progress report on the investigation within three weeks.
On Saturday, Sandip Ghosh and four others underwent polygraph tests at CBI’s office in Kolkata. A team of polygraph specialists from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi were called in to conduct the tests.
Besides Ghosh, lie detection tests were conducted on two doctors, an intern and a hospital staffer who were on duty on the night the woman trainee doctor was raped and murdered in a seminar hall at RG Kar. Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested in connection with the brutal rape-murder. The CBI will conduct a polygraph test on him today.