KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly uncovered instances of kickbacks received by former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh during his tenure at the state-run hospital.
The agency had questioned Ghosh for two weeks over financial irregularities in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital last month, eventually arresting him on September 2.
Meanwhile, Ghosh moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday, challenging the Calcutta High Court order dismissing his plea to be added as a party to the petition alleging financial irregularities at the institute.
According to CBI sources, Ghosh had allegedly taken a 40 percent commission for transfers, postings, and providing pass marks to unqualified medical students. The sources added that his commission gradually reduced to 10 percent as the racket for illegal transfers and postings of doctors expanded in recent years, with the money being distributed among a growing number of doctors.
Dr. Abhik Ghosh, a doctor from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, is identified by CBI sources as a key figure in running the illegal transfer and posting racket. The sources added that the central probe agency is also searching for other senior doctors involved in this scheme.
The sources also claimed Ghosh took a 20-30 percent commission on each tender he awarded to vendors involved in medical scams. Such tenders were reportedly awarded in violation of norms to vendors Biplav Singha and Suman Hazra, who were also arrested by the CBI on Monday.
The probe has also focused on how Singha's firm, Maa Tara Traders, managed to secure contracts for supplying items such as food packets, water coolers, purifiers, sound systems, and microphones, despite being primarily a lab equipment supplier.
Hazra's drug shop in Howrah's Mourigram is also under investigation to determine if he resold medicines meant for the hospital to other sellers.
The probe agency's initial inquiry had revealed that the former RG Kar principal had violated norms, including the requirement that technical bids be opened before financial bids.
According to regulations, technical bids, which detail the firm's quality assurance and methodology, should be reviewed before financial bids, which include prices and project costs.
Ghosh had reversed this process, the CBI's inquiry report claimed.
Following his arrest, the CBI presented the former principal before Kolkata's Alipore Court on Tuesday, where he was subsequently remanded to eight days of police custody.
The CBI argued that Ghosh and the vendors were part of a "larger nexus" involving corruption. "There is a larger nexus that needs to be probed," CBI counsel Rambabu Kanojia had argued.
"The scope of the offence is extensive. We need to gather further evidence, and additional offences may surface during the investigation," he added.
And on Wednesday, Ghosh faced public outrage upon his arrival at the Alipore court, where demonstrators greeted him with chants of "Dhik-dhik dhikkar (Shame! Shame!)" and "chor chor (thief)."
The CBI team swiftly escorted Ghosh and the others into the courtroom, closing the main entrance to prevent protesters from entering.
Inside the courtroom, a group of women lawyers verbally confronted Ghosh, with one of them reportedly delivering a slap to his face.
Ghosh resigned as the principal of RG Kar Medical College two days after the body of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found inside a seminar hall on August 9.
However, the state government promptly appointed him as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, prompting backlash from students. He was eventually asked to go on leave after the Calcutta High Court intervened and questioned his reappointment.
On Tuesday, the West Bengal government suspended Ghosh following his arrest by the CBI on allegations of financial misconduct, based on a complaint by the hospital's former deputy superintendent, Dr. Akhtar Ali.
Ali had approached the High Court amid public speculation about whether the alleged widespread corruption at RG Kar Medical College was connected to the trainee doctor's death, with suggestions that the victim might have been aware of and threatened to expose the corruption.
Ali also claimed that his complaints to the state vigilance commission and anti-corruption bureau about Ghosh, filed over a year ago, had yielded little result and led to his own transfer from the institution.
In his plea to the High Court, Ali accused Ghosh of illegal sales 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 pressured to pay between Rs 5 and 8 lakhs to pass exams.
Ghosh served as principal of RG Kar Medical College from February 2021 to September 2023. He was transferred from RG Kar in October of that year but was inexplicably reinstated within a month and held the position until the day the trainee doctor was found murdered.
Meanwhile, two prominent doctors in the state resigned from the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), citing the body's inaction against Sandip Ghosh even after complaints had been filed against him.
Dr. Dipanjan Bandhyopadhyay, head of the Department of Medicine at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, and Dr. Suman Mukhopadhyay submitted their resignations on Wednesday.
In their resignation letters, they expressed shock over the murder and rape of the trainee doctor inside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
They cited a series of allegations and counter-allegations emerging from the investigation, which have implicated some WBMC members. To preserve the integrity and reputation of the WBMC, they deemed it necessary to resign from the organisation.
