Following Sanjay Roy’s arrest, this is the second arrest related to the horrific RG Kar Hospital crime, occurring 24 days after the crime was committed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday arrested Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, for his alleged involvement in financial misconduct at the institution.
An hour after Sandip Ghosh’s arrest, CBI officials also detained his security guard and two vendors who supplied materials to the hospital where the body of a female medic, who was raped and murdered, was discovered on August 9.
The three individuals arrested by the CBI are Sandip Ghosh’s security guard, Afsar Ali Khan, and two hospital vendors, Biplav Singha and Sumon Hazra.
On August 23, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the hospital from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the CBI. This decision was in response to a petition by Dr. Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent of the hospital, who requested an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into multiple instances of alleged financial misconduct at the state-run institute during Sandip Ghosh’s tenure.
Sandip Ghosh was questioned for the 15th consecutive day at the CBI’s Salt Lake office regarding the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital on August 9. He was later escorted to the CBI’s Nizam Palace office in Kolkata, where the agency’s anti-corruption wing is located, and was officially placed under arrest.
This marks the second arrest related to the horrific RG Kar Hospital crime, occurring 24 days after the incident. Earlier, Sanjay Roy, a Kolkata Police civic volunteer, was arrested by Kolkata Police and handed over to the central agency in connection with the medic’s alleged rape and murder.
Corruption Charges Against Sandip Ghosh
Dr. Akhtar Ali approached the Calcutta High Court amid public speculation about a potential link between the alleged widespread corruption at RG Kar Hospital and the death of the post-graduate doctor. Concerns were raised that the victim might have been aware of the corruption and threatened to expose it.
Dr. Ali also claimed that his complaints to the State Vigilance Commission and Anti-Corruption Bureau, filed over a year ago against Sandip Ghosh, yielded minimal results and led to his own transfer from the institution. In his plea to the High Court, Dr. Ali accused Ghosh of illegal activities, including the sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste, and awarding tenders in exchange for bribes from medicine and medical equipment suppliers. He also alleged that students were coerced into paying ₹5 to 8 lakh to pass exams.
Following the transfer of the corruption case to the CBI, the agency named Sandip Ghosh in an FIR on August 24, charging him under Section 120B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy), which is combined with Section 420 of the IPC (cheating and dishonesty), and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. These charges are cognizable and non-bailable, according to a senior Calcutta High Court lawyer.
In addition to Sandip Ghosh, the CBI has also filed cases against M/s Ma Tara Traders of Madhya Jorehat, Banipur, Howrah; M/s Eshan Café of 4/1, H/1, JK Ghosh Road, Belgachhia, Kolkata; and M/s Khama Louha. The CBI conducted two rounds of polygraph tests on Ghosh in connection with the rape and murder investigation.