Kolkata:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its first chargesheet at a special court in Kolkata in connection with the multi-crore financial irregularities matter at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital here.

Sources aware of the development said that in the first chargesheet, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh and four others have been named.

The other four named in the chargesheet are Asish Pandey, Sandip Ghosh’s personal bodyguard Afsar Ali, Suman Hazra and Biplab Singha. The last two individuals named are private contractors and suppliers.

Besides five individuals, three business entities engaged in the supply of products and services to the RG Kar authorities were also named in the chargesheet.

However, although the chargesheet was submitted by CBI to the court on Friday, it was not officially accepted by the court authorities.

This is because since Sandip Ghosh and Asish Pandey were attached to the West Bengal government as employees, the acceptance of the chargesheet by the court authorities can be done only after there is an official clearance from the state government.

Sources in the know of things said that in the chargesheet, the CBI officials had given details on how Sandip Ghosh used to manipulate the tendering process of RG Kar to ensure that only contractors close to him got work-orders or contracts against hefty commissions.

In the chargesheet, the investigating officials had also given details on the skyrocketing increase in the quantum of assets and properties of the accused persons, especially Sandip Ghosh, during the short period after he assumed the charge as the Principal of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Sources added that in the chargesheet, Sandip Ghosh has been identified as the mastermind behind the entire alleged scam.

Besides making manipulations in the tendering process, the other charges in the case are getting infrastructure-related work at R.G. Kar done by private outsourced agencies bypassing the state public works department, smuggling bio-medical wastes from the hospital and selling the organs of the unidentified bodies brought to the hospital for autopsy purposes.

Besides the financial irregularities case, the CBI is also probing Sandip Ghosh and former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal in connection with the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in August this year.

The main charges against Sandip Ghosh and Mondal in this case are tampering with the evidence and misleading the investigation while the initial probe was being carried out by Kolkata Police before the matter was handed over to CBI.

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

Kolkata:

The newly appointed principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Suhrita Paul, has been removed from her post. The government’s move came after a delegation of students met officials at the Swasthya Bhavan.

The medical students had held a footmarch from the CGO Complex (CBI office) to Swasthya Bhavan and demanded that the new principal be removed. The protesting doctors had seconded the demand.

Her transfer is seen as a capitulation on part of the government which had appointed the health ministry official to the post n August 12 – the day it also transferred RG Kar’s Sandip Ghosh to the premier Calcutta’s National Medical College.

That move had backfired, with stern criticism coming from the Calcutta High Court, and escalation of student protests that started over the rape-murder of a young doctor on August 9, drawing the attention of the Supreme Court.  

Like Sandip Ghosh at the National Medical College, Suhrita Paul did not gain acceptance of the protesting students and just three days after the appointment, had a face-off with them.  

After the midnight vandalism at the hospital on August 15, Suhrita Paul lost her cool with the students. As the protesting doctors demanded that she take immediate action regarding the midnight mob attack and meet the students’ demands, Ms Paul retorted, “If you can’t trust me for one hour then send me home also”.

The reference was to the fate of her predecessor Sandip Ghosh, who has been sent on a long leave by the Calcutta High Court, which was furious over his new posting less than 12 hours after his resignation.

“I need one hour to do some official work. You need to believe me, I won’t go. You have to believe me. If you can’t believe me then don’t expect anything from me,” Suhrita Paul had said.

The protesting doctors have made it clear that they are not willing to relent till their demands are met.