Kolkata rape-murder: Family, colleagues hint at ‘drug racket’, role of ‘big fish’

Family and colleagues of the junior doctor, who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, have hinted at a possible drug siphoning racket, and involvement of “big fish” behind the crime.

A report by the Times of India, which quoted a few colleagues and family members of the 31-year-old victim, said she might have been targeted for knowing too much. The sources also insisted that Sanjoy Roy, the accused in the case, was just “a small fry” and that the real culprits are still at large.

‘Not a simple case’

“We suspect that it was not a simple case of mere rape and murder or an accidental victim. She was targeted. How did the civic volunteer know she was in the seminar hall alone at that point of time? He could be a part of a plot planted by some big fish,” a colleague told TOI.

Another colleague shared about internal rumours that she was silenced as she was trying to expose a possible drug siphoning racket from her department.

The report said, before the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the woman’s parents had told police about their suspicion that she was killed because she knew something she was not supposed to learn.

‘Vengeful principal’, punishment overwork

Police after studying entries from the diary of the doctor and after speaking with her parents have learnt that she was pressured with work for the past few weeks.

While junior doctors at the hospital reportedly clock 36 hours at a stretch, the woman’s colleagues said “punishment overwork” was a usual trend at the hospital, and was carried out under the administration of former principal Sandip Ghosh. They alleged that whoever crossed Ghosh were transferred to another medical college while students were failed in their examinations.

On the day of her death, the trainee doctor’s parents also told police that she had told them about tremendous work pressure. In her diary entries she had also written that some of her colleagues were dumping work on her, the TOI report said.

Questioning of Ghosh continues

Even as protests continued across the country in protest against the rape and murder, the CBI on Saturday (August 17), quizzed Ghosh about his whereabouts on the night of the crime. He was also asked about his reaction on learning about the crime.

Ghosh has given “convoluted” answers, a CBI officer told PTI.

He will be grilled by the agency for the third consecutive day on Sunday (August 18).

The body of the woman postgraduate trainee doctor was found inside a seminar hall of the hospital on August 9. Sanjoy Roy, the civic volunteer was arrested the next day for his alleged involvement in the crime.

Protests enter 10^th day

Healthcare services remained affected across West Bengal for the tenth consecutive day on Sunday as agitating junior doctors at state-run hospitals continued their cease-work demanding justice for the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here.

As the outpatient departments at government hospitals are closed on Sundays, the rush was less even as senior doctors were attending the emergency department to provide treatment to the visiting patients.