KOLKATA: Following the formation of first ever BJP government in West Bengal, a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers on Monday visited the R G Kar government teaching hospital in Kolkata as part of a fresh inquiry to probe the rape and murder of the PGT doctor at her workplace in the chest medicine department housed in the nine-storied casualty building of the hospital on 9 August in 2024.
According to an official, the team comprised six officers visited the medical superintendent cum vice principal (MSVP) Dr Saptarshi Chatterjee and other senior administrative officials of the hospital and held close-door meeting this afternoon.
The incident had triggered a nationwide people’s outrage and prompted doctors across the country to hit the road demanding justice for the victim.
Junior doctors under West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum (WBJDF) ceased work across all public sector healthcare facilities in the state with active support of common masses in protest against the incident.
The agitating junior doctors also organised fast-unto-death at the Esplanade Metro Channel demanding the Kolkata Police that was initially investigating case to arrests all culprits involved in the incident. Later, the CBI took over the case for investigation.
There have been allegations that evidence was destroyed and attempts were made to downplay the incident in its immediate aftermath.
The Calcutta High Court last month ordered a fresh investigation into the alleged destruction of evidence and the specific allegations raised by the victim’s family regarding the incident.
The CBI is mandated to re-investigate the sequence of events from the time the doctor had her dinner on the ill-fated night till her cremation the next evening. The probe agency is authorised to interrogate anyone it deems necessary. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will also examine the specific allegations levelled by the victim's family. The court has asked the SIT to submit its report by the next hearing on June 25.
Last week, newly appointed Bengal health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said the state government has reopened files related to the RG Kar case.
He had held a nearly one-and-a-half-hour meeting with the victim's parents to understand their concerns over the investigation and the alleged shortcomings in handling the case.
The victim’s mother is a newly elected BJP MLA from Panihati constituency in North 24 Parganas.
On January 20, 2025, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the incident.
