Dissatisfaction mounts over CBI probe; parents move HC, doctors stage stir

Kolkata: Amid increasing dissatisfaction with the CBI’s investigation into the RG Kar rape and murder case, the victim’s parents approached the Calcutta High Court once again, expressing concerns over the handling of the probe.

At the same time, a tense situation unfolded outside the Central agency’s CGO complex office in Salt Lake, where junior and senior doctors, along with members of various healthcare worker organisations, protested against the CBI’s alleged mishandling of the case.

Sources said the members of Junior Doctors Front, Service Doctors Forum, Medical Service Centre and Nurses Unity had announced a protest rally to CGO Complex alleging that the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report about the place of occurrence of the rape and murder indicated that CBI did not investigate properly. They hung a symbolic paper-made padlock at the main gate of the complex.

The doctors criticised the Central agency for failing to submit chargesheet against former principal of RG Kar Hospital Sandip Ghosh and former OC of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal, leading to their bail.

It is important to note that massive protests had erupted, accusing Ghosh and Mondal of ‘tampering with evidence’. Opposition parties also took to the streets, criticising the state for its handling of the investigation and asserting that the CBI would conduct a more effective probe than the state police.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the members of the organisations took part in the rally gathered near the Central Park metro station.

They marched to the CGO Complex where police had put up barricades in front of the main gate.

The situation escalated when police removed the symbolic padlock from the gate. The protestors reportedly attempted to break through the barricades, and when the police intervened, a brief scuffle ensued.

The protestors claimed that, like the police, the CBI is concealing several important facts.

Junior doctors have been demanding a transparent and fair probe of the case as police were accused of trying to shield the actual culprit. However, the Kolkata Police had arrested the prime accused Sanjoy Roy within a day, claiming he was the only accused. CBI later corroborated the claim of Kolkata Police by admitting Roy alone committed the crime.

However, doctors and the parents of the victim refuse to believe that the crime was committed by only one person. For several months protest rallies hit the streets of Kolkata demanding justice for the Post Graduate Trainee (PGT) doctor of RG Kar Hospital. Anti police slogans were raised from the protest rallies.

Meanwhile, the victim’s parents have moved Calcutta High Court again demanding further probe by the CBI which allegedly did not take into account certain aspects of the case. The parents said they are aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the ongoing investigation and the manner in which the trial is being conducted based upon “farce investigation”. They prayed for a further investigation under the supervision of the High Court.