Kolkata:

Ten doctors considered close to Sandip Ghosh, arrested former Principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar hospital, have been expelled by the hospital authorities for multiple irregularities, including issuing threats, coercion and sexual harassment. The expulsion comes amid an unprecedented “fast unto death” being held by a group of protesting junior doctors. 

The list of those expelled includes interns, house staff and senior residents from the hospital. All of them have been asked to vacate the college hostel within 72 hours. Their registration papers will be sent to the West Bengal Medical Council for action.

Among them, Ashish Pandey, a house staff, has already been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the case involving financial irregularities at the hospital that they are investigating.

Sandip Ghosh has also been arrested by the CBI in the case as well as the rape-murder of a junior doctor that had shocked by the country.  

The CBI is conducting a parallel investigation in that case as well.

Ayushree Thapa, another house staff, is the only woman doctor to be expelled. The other eight are Sourav Pal, Abhishek Sen, Nirjan Bagchi, Sarif Hasan, Neelagni Debnath, Amarendra Singh, Satpal Singh and Tanweer Ahmed Kazi.

The charges against them include threatening others to fail examinations or get ousted from the hostel, forcing other juniors to join a particular political party, sexual harassment and misconduct, forceful collection of money, lodging of false FIRs against students and physical violence on targeted students among others, reported news agency IANS.

Kolkata:

A bust to honour the junior doctor raped and killed at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in August has triggered a row, with many supporting its installation but others, including ruling Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh, calling it “disgusting”, “disrespectful” to the woman’s memory, and “the worst thing ever”.

The fibreglass bust – titled ‘Abhaya: Cry of the Hour’ and installed at the hospital and made by sculptor Bhaskar Sai – shows a woman screaming in agony with her head thrown back and eyes wide open.

It was installed Wednesday morning after a protest march by junior doctors from various city medical colleges on the occasion of ‘Mahalaya‘. This is an auspicious day that normally falls a week before Durga Puja and marks the transition from the inauspicious ‘pitri paksha‘ to ‘devi paksha‘.

Doctors who have participated in the nearly two-month long protest against the horrific crime, demanding, among other things, increased security on hospital campuses, told reporters the bust “is not of the victim… but a symbol of pain and torture she went through… and the ongoing protests”.

Some welcomed the bust; one X user, @senktk1979, suggested it may be “required as we humans forget everything… (this will not) allow us to forget this incident” and another, @PaulRhakho, raged, “Don’t remove till justice is done… let the world know India is not safe for women…”

This is extremely disgusting and disrespectful.
Letting the Criminals walk free without any remorse and allegations on 1 hand
And putting this disgusting statue up on the other?
‘Cry of the hour’ my foot!

— DrHumorless (@DrHumorless) October 3, 2024

However, not everyone agrees.

Mr Ghosh posted on X that “the installation of this statue in the name of Tilottama (the sobriquet given to the murdered doctor) is against the spirit of the Supreme Court pronouncement”.

“No responsible person can do that… not even in the name of art. There will be protests and demands for justice but the statue with the girl’s face of pain is not right,” he said.

On his side of the fence, one X user said, “Our country is beyond repair.”

Our country is beyond repair

— Bhushan (@Shitpost_44) October 3, 2024

“Speechless at how insensitive this is… to have one’s pain immortalised, to only be known for being sexually violated… I hope this disgusting statue is destroyed,” another user said.

“I wish… The mob should attack this sculpture first. Shameful design. No one wants to see a sculpture of someone in pain… instead they could have created a sculpture in which Goddess Durga beheads the rapist as capital punishment for his mistake…” a third user raged.

Last month the Supreme Court ordered free online database Wikipedia to remove the name and photo of the doctor; the site had identified the doctor in an entry about the shocking RG Kar killing.

READ | Top Court Orders Wikipedia To Remove Kolkata Horror Victim’s Name

However, Indian laws do not permit release of rape victims and survivors’ identities, and a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud reminded owners Wikimedia Foundation of this fact, stating, “The identity of the victim should not be revealed in any way. Wikipedia should immediately remove photo and content revealing her identity,” the bench said, directing deletion from social media too.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday doctors protesting the RG Kar killing resumed their ‘indefinite’ strike, pressing, once again, for demands that include ensuring their safety at all hospitals and clinics in the state.

READ | “Compelled To…”: Bengal Doctors Resume Strike Over RG Kar Horror

They also criticised the “slow”-paced CBI investigation, saying, “We have seen many times before… CBI has been unable to reach conclusions and allows real culprits to go free due to delays…”

READ | Kolkata Rape Murder: Junior Doctors Resume Work After 42 Days

Ten days earlier the junior doctors had stood down their month-long agitation, after finally meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and returned to provide essential and emergency services but not in outpatient departments. They had then given the state a week to fulfil their demands.

READ | Bengal Replaces Kolkata Police Chief, 2 Others On Doctors’ Demand

Ongoing CBI Investigation

The junior doctor was found dead in a seminar room of the hospital early August 9. The killing sparked furious protests and was compared to the Nirbhaya rape and murder in Delhi in December 2012.

The CBI, which took over the case after being ordered to by the Calcutta High Court, after it overruled a deadline for the police set by the Chief Minister, has arrested Dr Sandip Ghosh, who was the RG Kar Hospital chief at the time, before he resigned claiming “moral responsibility”.

READ | CBI’s Cover-Up Claims Against Ex Principal, Cop In Kolkata Horror

Ghosh has been arrested in connection with alleged financial irregularities in running the hospital, and has been subject to extensive interrogation and a lie-detector test. The CBI has also taken into custody a civilian volunteer with Kolkata Police – Sanjoy Roy – who is the prime accused.

The doctor’s killing has sparked a massive political squabble with the Trinamool and the Chief Minister under severe pressure from the opposition BJP and civil society activists.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Kolkata:

The CBI, which is probing the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case, has told a local court in Kolkata that “some false records, pertaining to the case, were created at the Tala Police Station”.

The federal agency, tasked by the Calcutta High Court with investigating the killing of a junior doctor last month, also said it had CCTV footage from the police station in question, and that this has been sent to a central forensics lab in the city for examination. Kolkata Police has not yet responded.

This significant twist in the case comes after the CBI interrogated Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of the Tala Police Station at the time. Mondal, arrested on charges of tampering with evidence, and Dr Sandip Ghosh, the hospital’s former chief, held over financial irregularities, are both in CBI custody.

Prime suspect Sanjay Roy – a civic volunteer with the cops, who was seen on CCTV footage entering the room in which the body was found, hours before it was – has also been arrested.

On Wednesday the agency had produced Mondal and Ghosh before the court following completion of their remand. The court subsequently sent them to judicial custody till September 30.

Last week the agency told the court it suspects a ‘nexus’ between the two; the CBI referred to phone calls between Mondal and Ghosh. Mondal’s lawyer pointed out that given a serious crime had been reported from the hospital it was normal for the two to speak multiple times.

That point was flagged in the trial court yet again today, and the defence pointed out the CBI, though it had made these critical allegations, had not provided evidence to back its claims.

Apart from identifying those guilty of the killing of the 31-year-old junior doctor, the CBI is also investigating reports of destruction of evidence in connection with the rape and murder.

Mondal, the CBI has said, is not accused in the rape or murder, but may have played a role in the cover-up that followed. The Bengal government and police force are facing severe scrutiny in this regard, with many alleging the state is trying to protect those guilty.

The CBI is also probing a “criminal conspiracy” between Mondal, Ghosh, and Roy, pointing to the “unnecessary delay of two days” in the seizure of the clothes the latter wore on the day. This, the agency told the court, could have led to contamination of material evidence.

Among the points of order flagged by the High Court and Supreme Court (which took suo moto cognisance) is that there was a 14-hour delay between finding the body and filing a police case.

Both courts have demanded to know why the hospital administration, then led by Sandip Ghosh, did not do so immediately, which would, in turn, have ensured the police filed a FIR.

As an aside, Mondal was last night admitted to the prison hospital. Sources told news agency IANS he tripped and fell while being taken back from the court after yesterday’s hearing.

Also, on Sunday the CBI also questioned another doctor – Birupaksha Biswas, allegedly close to Ghosh – in connection with the rape and murder. Biswas was reportedly part of the ‘North Bengal lobby’, which medics in the state say have threatened medical students in the past.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, junior doctors partially rejoined duties after striking for over 40 days to protest the killing of their colleague. They rejoined for essential and emergency services only.

They have been protesting since August 9 – which has included three failed attempts at talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – for justice for their colleague and removal of three officials, including the Health Secretary, alleging their involvement in the case.

The doctors made it clear this partial return is not an end to their agitation. “If needed, we will begin protests again,” they said.

With input from agencies

Lucknow:

BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday said incidents of crime against women were “extremely worrying”, and asked political parties to rise above party politics and take “strict steps” to prevent them.

Her remarks come against the backdrop of the nationwide outcry over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and also cases of rape of girls in other parts of the country.

“The incidents of rape, murder and suicide, especially of innocent girls and women, happening in Bengal, Badlapur in Maharashtra, Bihar, and Kannauj, Agra and Farrukhabad districts of Uttar Pradesh are extremely sad and worrying,” the former chief minister said on X.

1. देश में कभी बंगाल, कभी महाराष्ट्र के बदलापुर, कभी बिहार में तो कभी यूपी के कन्नौज, आगरा व फर्रूखाबाद ज़िले आदि में भी मासूम बच्चियों नाबालिग़ व महिलाओं पर ख़ासकर रेप, हत्या व आत्महत्या आदि की हो रही घटनाएं अति-दुःखद व चिन्ताजनक। 1/2

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 29, 2024

“The Centre and all state governments should rise above party politics and take strict steps in this matter so that such incidents stop happening. Politics should not be done in its guise. This is the need of the hour and also in the interest of women,” she added.

2. केन्द्र व सभी राज्य सरकारें, इस मामले में दलगत राजनीति से ऊपर उठकर सख़्त कदम उठाएं, ताकि ऐसी घटनायें जल्दी होना बन्द हो, ना कि इसकी आड़ में राजनीति की जाए, यही समय की मांग है तथा यही महिलाओं के हित में भी है। 2/2

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 29, 2024

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

Kolkata:

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday paid a visit to the residence of the woman doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Mr Bose, who returned from Cuttack, went to the doctor’s residence in North 24 Parganas district straight away from the airport and spoke to her parents.

“I have listened to both the parents. I will be writing to the chief minister in a closed envelope. They told me certain things, confidential now,” Mr Bose told reporters.

According to sources close to the governor, Mr Bose was moved after witnessing the parents’ suffering because of the death of their daughter.

Mr Bose had spoken to the doctor’s parents over the phone twice on Tuesday and assured them of justice.

Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal on Wednesday, as junior doctors continued their ceasework for the 13th consecutive day to protest against the alleged rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at RG Kar hospital here.

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

New Delhi:

The financial transactions at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College during the tenure of former Principal Sandip Ghosh will now be looked into following allegations of irregularities. An order from the West Bengal government said a Special Investigation Team has been formed to conduct the probe the alleged financial irregularities, and will submit a report within a month.

Sandip Ghosh, facing massive criticism over the rape-murder of a doctor in the hospital premises, is now being questioned by the CBI. 

A note from the government’s Home and Hill Affairs Department Internal Security Branch, said the SIT, headed by Inspector General of Police Dr Pranav Kumar, will have the “liberty to access any relevant document from government departments and private agencies required for expeditious completion of the inquiry”.

The team will look into the alleged financial irregularities in the period between January 2021 till date. 

“The SIT will submit its first report to the State Government within a month from the date of its constitution,” the order read. 

The move came amid massive criticism over its transfer of the principal within hours of his resignation to the city’s top medical college — the National Medical College and Hospital.  The Opposition, civil society and the Calcutta High Court had heaped criticism on the state government over it. 

Questioning how can a Principal, who has failed in his duty to protect his students, be rewarded, the judges said, “Even assuming the resignation was not accepted, the least that can be expected from a responsible higher official of the concerned department is to immediately relieve the Principal from his duties and not assign him any other duty of equal responsibility”.

The court has sent Ghosh on a long leave. 

The move to transfer Ghosh had put Mamata Banerjee’s government on the backfoot, with women — staunch supporters of the Chief Minister — being up in arms over the rape-murder and the police handling of the case.

Stung by adverse comments on social media, Ghosh had stepped down not just from the post, but also government service. A government order four hours later announced his transfer to the National Medical College. 

He is now being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has taken over the probe into the rape-murder that has sparked massive protests across the country.

The agency, sources said, has asked him multiple questions, including ones on hospital security and his resignation. He has also been asked why there was a hurry to declare the death a suicide, the contamination of the crime scene, and the sudden renovation of rooms near the seminar hall where the doctor’s body was found.

Officials hinted that the former principal is yet to give satisfactory answers to these questions.

The CBI is also examining his call records and chat, and has asked him to provide details of his phone calls before and after the August 9 incident.