As CBI grills Sandip Ghosh for 3rd day, here’s all we know about RG Kar ex-principal, probe

Ever since the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-and-murder case from the Kolkata Police on August 14, it has so far grilled 20 people in connection with the horrific incident, while at least 40 are reportedly on its list for questioning. The person who has faced the maximum heat is Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the medical college, who was later sent on long leave by the Calcutta High Court.

As the CBI summoned Dr Ghosh for the third straight of grilling on Sunday (August 18), here is all we could find out about the doctor who was termed “extremely powerful” by a former colleague, and who has even been accused of running drug and sex rackets, apparently by RG Kar hospital insiders, and in viral social media posts.

Not new to controversy

Dr Ghosh is an orthopaedic doctor and professor. He became the principal of RG Kar Medical College in mid-2021. Before that, he worked as the vice-principal at Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC).

Interestingly, when the state government tried to reinstate Dr Ghosh — a move for which it faced severe flak — at CNMC after he resigned from RG Kar medical college following the brutal rape and murder, the trainee doctors at CNMC said they did not want the “garbage” on their campus.

Months after taking up charge of RG Kar medical college, he had reportedly faced a 350-strong students’ protest over the authorities’ hesitation to create two separate councils for students and hostels. They had even held a hunger strike outside Dr Ghosh’s office.

Transfer reversals

Insiders have reportedly alleged that Dr Ghosh used to run the hospital like his “personal fiefdom through threats and intimidation”, thanks to his close ties with the ruling TMC.

He reportedly even faced open charges of corruption and irregularities, which prompted the authorities to transfer him twice — as recently as in September 2023 and in May that year. But both times, he was quickly reinstated.

In January 2023, the RG Kar medical college administration helmed by Dr Ghosh had faced massive backlash after it was alleged that bodies brought to the hospital for autopsy were being used for the “practical sessions on dissection” without the families’ consent.

In May 2023, Dr Ghosh was reportedly transferred to Murshidabad Medical College. But he reportedly locked the principal’s room at RG Kar medical college, barring his successor from taking over. His transfer was reportedly revoked within 48 hours. In September last year, he was again transferred to the same medical college but was reportedly reinstated within a month.

A certain section of trainee doctors is said to be “close” to Dr Ghosh, and they reportedly protested against his transfer and demanded his return. This same section of trainees was reportedly accused in a ragging incident at RG Kar college’s Manicktala Main Boys’ Hostel, after which he had been transferred.

Former colleague, students speak

An intern has told The Wire that Dr Sandip Ghosh is “extremely vindictive” and “uses his political clout to terrorise students” and threaten them “with dire consequences” if they don’t “toe his line”. “Many students have failed after raising their voices against him,” the intern was quoted by The Wire.

The same claim has been made by Akhtar Ali, former deputy superintendent of RG Kar hospital. He alleged in an interview to news agency ANI that Dr Ghosh used to run a mafia raj within the institution.

“He [Sandip Ghosh] is a very corrupt person. He used to fail students, he used to charge 20 per cent commission on tender orders... He used to take money for every work that was done at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. He used to supply alcohol to students at his guesthouse... He was like a mafia person,” Akhtar Ali said in the interview.

Ali also claimed that Ghosh used to move around with bouncers. “He is very powerful. I had filed a complaint against him in 2023. His resignation [after the RG Kar rape-murder incident] was just an eyewash,” Ali had said.

Allegations of domestic violence

Dr Ghosh has also reportedly been accused of domestic violence by his old neighbours at Mallick Bagan area of Barasat in North 24-Parganas district.

A report by Hindustan Times Bangla had quoted his former neighbour as saying that he had kicked his wife in the belly two weeks after she delivered their child by C-section. Neighbours had reportedly rushed to their house upon hearing her screams. They had reportedly taken her to hospital, where it was seen that several of her stitches had come off due to the beating.

Dr Ghosh’s wife was also reportedly a doctor. According to this report, Ghosh even used to examine patients in his house “for extra fees” despite being appointed at a government hospital.

The present case

Dr Ghosh first drew largescale anger when his immediate reaction to the information of the rape-murder under his watch was given to him. He reportedly said “it was irresponsible of the girl to go to the seminar hall alone at night”.

Second, under his watch, the assistant superintendent of the hospital allegedly first called up the woman’s family to tell them she was ill, and then again, after 20 minutes to tell them she had “died by suicide”. All this happened some six hours after her death.

On August 13, the Calcutta High Court rapped Dr Ghosh and said it was “disheartening” that he was not “proactive” in the case.

“The principal of the institution either by himself or by issuing appropriate directions could have lodged a complaint with the police since the death occurred within the hospital premises. This, in our view, was a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the principal and the officers under his command and this has led to various repercussions and it has been admitted by the authorities that the situation became chaotic and Rapid Action Force had to be brought in,” the court reportedly said.

The court then asked Dr Ghosh to “go on long leave” after asking the state counsel, “Why are you protecting him?”

CBI probe

Dr Ghosh was grilled by the CBI for nearly 24 hours over Friday and Saturday. He was called again for questioning on Sunday.

So far, he has reportedly been asked about the following points — his whereabouts on the night of the rape and murder of the PGT doctor, who informed him about the incident and what his immediate reaction was, whom he instructed to inform the family, and how and who contacted the police. Another question was regarding the allegation that the parents were made to wait for nearly three hours before they were allowed to see the woman’s body.

Dr Ghosh was also reportedly asked why he hurriedly ordered a renovation near the crime scene, the seminar room. While the state and Kolkata Police have claimed that the seminar room was sealed and untouched, there have been massive allegations that there was an “attempt to tamper with evidence” and the crime scene.

Dr Ghosh was also asked about the weekly roster of the chest medicine department, where the victim worked. She was reportedly made to work for up to 48 hours at a stretch.

Conspiracy?

According to news agency PTI, a CBI officer said some of Dr Ghosh’s answers were “convoluted”.

The agency is now reportedly trying to figure out if there was a conspiracy behind the crime. “We are trying to find out whether there was any conspiracy or pre-planning to the crime — what was the principal doing and whether he is involved with the incident in any manner?” an officer was quoted as saying in a media report.

The reason why the CBI is probing the conspiracy angle is because the woman’s parents and colleagues have alleged that she was under “tremendous work pressure” and that “punishment overwork” was a done thing in Dr Ghosh’s “regime”.

RG Kar insiders have also claimed that Dr Ghosh may have been involved in a sex racket and a drug siphoning racket, and that the PGT doctor may have been come to know about these and was therefore murdered. It has also been alleged that a group of interns close to Dr Ghosh were party to the crime. The CBI has already grilled a section of interns. The parents and RG Kar insiders also suspect that it was a case of gang rape.

It is not clear yet whether the CBI is probing these angles, but it will corroborate Dr Ghosh’s statements with the doctors and interns on duty on that day.