Dr Sandip Ghosh and Kolkata cop Abhijit Mondal face evidence tampering charge
Kolkata:
Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, tried to downplay the 31-year-old doctor’s rape-murder as an incident of suicide and this may have led to the destruction of evidence, probe agency CBI has told a Kolkata court.
Dr Ghosh, earlier arrested in a case of financial irregularities at the state-run hospital, now faces a charge of tampering with evidence in the heinous case that has shocked the nation. Abhijit Mondal, officer-in-charge of Tala Police Station, has also been arrested in this case.
According to the CBI’s remand note submitted in court yesterday, Dr Ghosh got information about the incident at 9.58 am on August 9, but did not reach the hospital immediately and did not register a formal complaint with the police. The CBI’s note says a “new theory of suicide” was introduced despite external injury marks on the victim’s body. The doctors’ parents have also said a phone call from the hospital told them that their daughter had died by suicide.
The CBI has said that Dr Ghosh was in touch with the police officer and an advocate after the victim was found raped and murdered. The former principal did not even meet the victim’s parents when they came to the hospital to find their daughter raped and murdered. Dr Ghosh failed to ensure the timely completion of medical formalities after the incident and asked subordinates to send the body to the morgue immediately, the CBI told the court.
In its remand note against the police officer, the CBI said that Mr Mondal got information after the heinous crime at 10.03 am, but reached the hospital an hour later.
The first General Diary Entry, CBI has said, mentioned that the “body of PG trainee of R G Kar MCH was found lying in unconscious state” even after the body was examined and the victim found dead. The agency said the police officer failed to ensure timely registration of the FIR despite the heinous nature of the crime.
The officer, the CBI said, failed to cordon off the crime scene. This led to unauthorised people entering the crime scene and led to damage of vital evidence, it has said. The agency has also held him responsible for the delay in the issue of the death certificate and autopsy.
The CBI underlined that the police officer received information about the case at 10.03 am, but the FIR was filed late at night — an issue that has been repeatedly flagged in the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court.
The officer, the CBI said, hurriedly allowed the body’s cremation despite the family members specifically demanding a second autopsy. The agency has said that the police officer started the investigation with an attempt to vitiate evidence and remained evasive when the CBI questioned him.
The Kolkata court yesterday granted the CBI two days’ custody of Dr Ghosh and Mr Mondal. The matter will be heard tomorrow.
Mr Mondal’s lawyer said there was no ground to arrest the police officer. “They allege there was a delay. They don’t say whether I am an accused or a witness. There is no ground for arrest here. This is at best a case of alleged dereliction of duty. For that, a departmental inquiry could have been done.”
Dr Ghosh and Mr Mondal are the CBI’s first arrests in the rape-murder case. They are accused of being a part of an alleged cover-up by the hospital administration after the doctor was found raped and murdered. Earlier, the Kolkata police arrested Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer who frequented the hospital, for allegedly raping and murdering the doctor. Roy’s custody was handed over to the CBI after the central agency took over the probe after a high court order.