KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday announced a fresh probe into the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2024.
The announcement came days after the Calcutta High Court criticised the CBI for delaying its investigation into the case, which had triggered widespread public outrage.
Addressing a programme to mark the victim's death anniversary at Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, the chief minister said the state government had taken the decision following a request from the deceased's mother, Ratna Debnath, who is now a BJP MLA from Panihati.
"Ratna Debnath had written to me, requesting a fresh investigation. After extensive discussions with the chief secretary and a team of experts, I am announcing a fresh investigation under the Special Commission Act, 1952," he said, sharing the stage with Debnath.
Suvendu claimed that the police had failed to perform their duty in relation to the incident, which took place during the tenure of the then Trinamool Congress government led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
He also ordered a separate investigation into alleged lapses in the cremation of the victim and directed immediate action against those responsible.
The death anniversary programme was held at Panihati Lok Sanskriti Bhaban in memory of the PGT doctor.
Meanwhile, a two-minute silence was observed on Sunday at government hospitals across Bengal in memory of the victim.
“It was not only a rape incident happened two years ago at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. She was a victim of larger conspiracy,” Debnath said, claiming, “My daughter was raped and murdered because she came to know about something highly secret matters at the hospital.”
“I hope, she will remain alive in people’s memory as a doctor but not as a ‘victim’,” the BJP MLA added.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure with the progress of the CBI investigation into the RG Kar hospital incident and observed that the agency was not conducting the inquiry properly.
The CBI's new investigating team on Thursday submitted a detailed report to the court on the ongoing inquiry and sought more time to investigate the incident.
The division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh reacted strongly after the central agency sought more time for the investigation.
The court directed the agency to rework the investigation from the beginning by reconstructing the crime scene and establishing the sequence of events until the end of the incident at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
“How long the case will remain as a sub-judice matter at a time when people are looking for justice for the incident? People will wait for how many days?” Justice Sarkar had raised questions during Thursday's hearing.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front, formed immediately after the incident on 9 August two years ago to demand justice for the victim, held a clinic for underprivileged people at Chitpur in north Kolkata on Sunday.
The Junior Doctors' Front later held a memorial march from College Street to Esplanade for the postgraduate trainee, demanding that proper justice be served for her through the arrest and trial of other people who may have been directly or indirectly involved in the crime.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Sharadwat Mukherjee and senior officials observed a two-minute silence at Swasthya Bhavan, the department's headquarters in Salt Lake.
At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in north Kolkata, paramilitary personnel guarding the facility joined doctors, nurses and other staff in observing the silence.
Following the rape and murder of the on-duty doctor, the Supreme Court had ordered a series of measures to ensure the safety and security of doctors and other staff, including the deployment of paramilitary personnel at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
While one person, Sanjay Roy, was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment until the end of his life by the Sealdah sessions court, the victim's parents and many of her colleagues have claimed that other people were also involved in the crime.
