Kolkata:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, is trying to retrieve the deleted history of the mobile phone calls and messages which Ashish Pandey made on August 9, the morning of which the body of the victim was discovered at the seminar hall within the hospital premises.

Pandey is one of the confidants of Sandip Ghosh, the former and controversial principal of RG Kar.

Sources said the investigating officials have come across some circumstantial evidence that indicates that the history of such calls and messages from Pandey’s mobile phone were deleted in due course.

The investigating officials believe that once the data on this count are retrieved it might lead to new angles in the twin conspiracies, the first related to tampering of evidence in the rape and murder case and the second related to the rampant financial irregularities at RG Kar.

Sources added that the investigating officials suspect that these deleted calls and messages were mainly related to a conversation between Pandey and his mentor Sandip Ghosh, against whom the central agency officials are conducting parallel probes in both the rape and murder as well the financial irregularities case.

In the rape and murder case, the main charges against Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal are — misleading the investigation and tempering of the evidence when the initial probe in the matter was being carried out by the Kolkata Police.

The name of Pandey first surfaced in the second week of September, when the CBI officials traced that he had put up at a hotel in Salt Lake on the night of August 9, on the morning of which the body of the doctor was discovered within the hospital premises.

On October 3, the CBI sleuths arrested Pandey in connection with the financial irregularities case. He is currently under judicial custody.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

People come to support junior doctors sitting on a hunger strike demanding justice for the RG Kar rape-murder case, in Kolkata on October 11, 2024
| Photo Credit: ANI

Another junior doctor, who was observing a fast-unto-death in protest over the rape and murder of a woman medic at R.G. Kar Medical College was rushed to a hospital on Saturday evening after his health condition deteriorated, an official said.

Anustup Mukherjee, a junior doctor of Medical College, Kolkata, became the third medic of those who have been on the indefinite fast to be taken to hospital. His condition was stated to be “serious” by his colleagues at the agitation site in the city, a medic said.

Also read | ‘Medical fraternity of India is concerned’: IMA writes to Mamata on fast unto death by junior doctors

After a team of doctors decided that his condition demanded that he be admitted to hospital for treatment, Dr. Mukherjee was taken to hospital, he said.

He was taken for treatment to Medical College, Kolkata, of which he is a student.

Junior doctors at the agitation site said blood was coming out of his stool and that he was complaining of severe stomach ache.

They requested the government to consider their demands, maintaining that the state administration was “responsible” for the illnesses of the fasting doctors.

Earlier in the day, Alok Varma from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital became the second medic of those who have been on an indefinite fast to be hospitalised after Aniket Mahato was admitted to the ICU of RG Kar Hospital three days back.

The junior doctors commenced their fast-unto-death in the Esplanade area in central Kolkata on October 5.

The protesting doctors have been demanding justice for the deceased woman medic at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital and immediate removal of Health Secretary N.S. Nigam.

Their other demands include the establishment of a centralised referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges in the state, the implementation of a bed vacancy monitoring system, and formation of task forces to ensure essential provisions for CCTV, on-call rooms, and washrooms at their workplaces.

The firestorm over a Kolkata doctor’s gruesome rape and murder and the flood crisis threaten to severely impact Bengal’s Rs 50,000 crore Durga Puja economy.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her government and her Trinamool Congress party have been under the kind of pressure not seen before in their 13-year tenure in West Bengal.

The mishandling of the grisly rape murder case and its fallout have dented the state government’s image. Amid the (partially withdrawn) junior doctors’ strike, floods have subdued preps for this year’s Durga Puja celebrations, so integral to Bengal’s culture and economy.

The floods saw the Chief Minister finally on the offensive after weeks of fighting on the back foot over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.

Proactively raising the issue of floods in her state, Mamata Banerjee wrote a series of letters lamenting the ‘manmade’ calamity in the southern districts of Bengal. She accused the DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) of releasing 5 lakh cusecs of water over three days, inundating 11 districts in south Bengal. She also shot off two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting his intervention.

Widespread protests

The flood crisis in West Bengal has sparked a face-off between Mamata Banerjee and her INDIA bloc ally and Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren. She accuses the Jharkhand Chief Minister of not responding to her repeated appeals and releasing DVC water to protect his state from flood while endangering neighbouring Bengal. A furious Mamata Banerjee ordered the sealing of the border between the two states, which led to a retaliatory threat from Jharkhand’s ruling JMM to block goods trucks heading to Bengal, escalating tensions between the two states.

Mamata Banerjee claimed that water from the DVC reservoirs was released without any notice to the Bengal government, and the views of her government were not honoured.

Mamata Banerjee’s critics accuse her of trying to divert public attention away from the doctors’ protests with her letters amplifying the flood crisis.

The people of Bengal are not in a mood to forgive, she realises.

In her letters, she stressed that flood waters had destroyed Durga Puja pandals – an emotional subject for the people of Bengal.  

In the meantime, the junior doctors have also decided to take necessary steps to provide medical relief to the flood-affected.

As for their strike, they finally agreed to meet Mamata Banerjee across the table after she backtracked and put out an apology.

The doctors’ demand for the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, the Director of Medical Education and the Director of Health Services was actioned almost immediately.

 Yet there are still unresolved matters.

Though the Chief Minister’s secretariat directed doctors’ safety and security measures, the timeline of implementation has not been specified.

But to Mamata Banerjee’s great relief, junior doctors protesting outside the health ministry headquarters, Swasthya Bhawan, in Kolkata over the RG Kar hospital rape-murder have partially withdrawn their strike and resumed duties at emergency and essential services in state-run hospitals last Saturday. The medics, who have been protesting for 41 days, announced that they would not return to the outpatient departments (OPD) in government hospitals just yet.

Subdued mood

There have been social media campaigns calling for a boycott of Durga Puja celebrations until there is justice for the murdered doctor.

According to the Forum for Durgotsab, an association of community puja organisers in Kolkata, the city’s pujas have received only 40-45% of the sponsorship money they get by this time, compared to 70-80%. The pre-puja consumer demand and corporate funding have declined, affecting sales in apparel, fashion products, and restaurants. Brands are not eager to sponsor pandals and shying away from financial commitments for fear of negative public sentiment. The footfalls at malls and shopping hubs are significantly lower than usual. Local markets too are far from swamped with shoppers. Many artisans and labourers depend on community puja organisers.

Financially, it’s worse than the Covid years when the organisers had voluntarily curtailed the Durga Puja budget. This year, many may be forced to resort to personal loans to meet the expenses, which they will repay with interest for the next few years – definitely not viable puja economy.     

The state of affairs could adversely affect Bengal’s financial performance for the October-December quarter; the state typically accounts for 15-20% of the national festival sales.

Bengal has one good news, however, from Bangladesh. The interim government there has decided to export 3,000 tonnes of the Bengalis’ beloved hilsa fish to India, reversing its earlier decision.

Junior doctors holding their stethoscope raise slogans as they sit on a dharna after the police stopped their march towards Swasthya Bhawan in protest over RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident, in Kolkata, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Kolkata rape and murder case: Doctors continue protests, reject Bengal government call for talks

Responding to the claims by government officials, the protesting doctors said, “We want to keep all channels for negotiations and talks open. But the way they wrote the email and the language they used was an insult to us. The way the email came to us, it was not an official email; it was a mail from the Health Secretary, we are not in any position to officially respond to it. If there is any positive response from the government to our five demands, we are ready to consider their appeal to hold talks.”

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Kolkata:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing allegations of financial irregularities at the state-run R.G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has traced ‘questionable’ properties purchased by the controversial former principal of the institute, Sandip Ghosh, and his wife Sangeeta Ghosh.

According to a statement issued by the probe agency on Tuesday, on September 6, the ED conducted search operations at seven premises, including the residences of Sandip Ghosh, his close relatives and associates, in connection with misappropriation of funds at R.G. Kar Medical College, which has been in the news ever since the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor on the hospital premises last month.

As per the statement, during the search operations at Mr Ghosh’s residence, the ED “seized various incriminating documents, documents related to properties acquired by Sandip Ghosh and his wife Sangeeta Ghosh, and digital devices”.

During the search, it was unravelled that Sangeeta Ghosh had purchased two immovable properties without proper approval from the concerned authorities.

ED officials are investigating the angle of assets disproportionate to income belonging to both Ghosh and his wife, including two residential flats close to R.G Kar, one residential flat in Murshidabad, and one luxurious multi-room farmhouse-cum-bungalow in South 24 Parganas district.

Some of these properties were purchased during the period when Sandip Ghosh was the principal of R.G Kar Medical College.

Both ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are conducting parallel investigations into the case of financial irregularities at R.G Kar.

While, CBI’s is a court-monitored probe, ED has taken suo motu cognisance of the case by registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).

The ED officials have already traced the involvement of multiple shell entities that were used to unethically bag tender-awards for supply of medical equipment or work-orders for infrastructure maintenance work at RG Kar, all during the period when Sandip Ghosh was at the helm of its affairs.

Meanwhile, a special court in Kolkata on Tuesday sent Sandip Ghosh and three others to judicial custody till September 23 for their alleged involvement in the financial scam at R.G. Kar.

The three others sent to judicial custody are Afsar Ali, Suman Hazra, and Biplab Sinha. While Ali is the personal bodyguard of Mr Ghosh, Mr Sinha and Mr Hazra are vendors who supplied medical equipment to R.G. Kar when Mr Ghosh was its principal.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary during the 54th GST Council Meeting, at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, in New Delhi on Monday, September 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

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Kolkata Trainee Doctor Rape-Murder Case:

The Supreme Court is currently hearing the suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is hearing the matter. 

During the last hearing, the bench had asked the CBI – the central agency probing the case – for a status report of the investigation so far. The top court had also asked the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to give a status report of the investigation into thousands of people breaking into the hospital.

While Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is appearing for the central agency, senior advocate Kapil Sibal is representing the West Bengal government.

Thousands of people across West Bengal and other parts of the country are holding protests over the rape and murder of the doctor on duty on August 9. Sanjay Roy – a civic volunteer – has been arrested in the case.

Here are live updates on Supreme Court hearing on Kolkata rape-murder case:

Live Updates: Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case Hearing In Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is currently asking Mr Sibal about the time at which the UD (unnatural death) was registered in the case.

Live Updates: Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case Hearing In Supreme Court
In its reports in the top court, the West Bengal Health Department said that as many as 23 people have died as doctors are on strike. 

Live Updates: Supreme Court Hearing Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case

The Supreme Court bench is looking at the status report filed by the CBI and the West Bengal government. While Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is appearing for the central agency, senior advocate Kapil Sibal is representing the West Bengal government.

Live Updates: Supreme Court Resumes Hearing Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case
The Supreme Court has now resumed hearing the case related to the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is overseeing the proceedings.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MTbyWizCUM

Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case In Supreme Court

During the last hearing, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had asked the CBI – the central agency probing the case – for a status report of the investigation so far.

The top court had also asked the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to give a status report of the investigation into thousands of people breaking into the hospital.

Protests Over Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case

Thousands of people across West Bengal and other parts of the country are holding protests over the rape and murder of the doctor on duty on August 9. Over 130 protests took place in 25 countries, including major cities like Stockholm, Sydney, and New York. Protesters – many clad in black -held vigils, sang in Bengali, and chanted slogans in solidarity with the victim.

Sanjay Roy – a civic volunteer – has been arrested in the case.

Live Updates: Supreme Court To Hear Kolkata Doctor Rape-Murder Case Shortly
The Supreme Court will shortly resume hearing the case related to the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month.