CBI takes over probe into woman doctor's rape-murder in medical college in Kolkata

New Delhi/Kolkata: Hours after the Kolkata High Court's direction, the CBI on Tuesday took over the investigation in the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run medical college in the West Bengal capital.

The agency swiftly completed all formalities following the High Court order asking the state police to hand over the case documents to the central probe agency, officials said.

A team of CBI officials from Delhi along with forensic scientists and medical experts will visit Kolkata on Wednesday, they said.

Earlier in the day, the High Court ordered the state police to hand over the case diary to the CBI by 10 AM on Wednesday, amid allegations of a botched probe and cover-up as well as protests and strikes by doctors over the incident.

The body of the postgraduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar hospital, was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday.

The victim's parents had moved the High Court seeking a court-monitored investigation in the case. Several other PILs were also filed seeking a CBI probe.

The preliminary autopsy report suggested that the doctor was sexually abused and murdered. It stated that the victim was bleeding from her eyes, mouth and private parts. There were also injuries on her left leg, neck, right hand, ring finger and lips.

The Kolkata Police had arrested a 33-year-old person who joined the Kolkata Police as a civic volunteer in 2019. The police had alleged that he was married at least four times and was a known "womaniser".

The accused, who is a trained boxer, got close to a few senior police officers over the years, following which he was moved to the Kolkata Police Welfare Board and posted at the police outpost at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where the incident occurred.

"He had access to all departments owing to his proximity with some senior police officers and the hospital authorities. Nobody had the guts to stop his unhindered movements in and around the hospital," a state police official had said.

His mother Malati Roy, however, rubbished the allegations, claiming that her son was "innocent".

Hearing the petitions in the matter, the bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also observed that "something is missing" in the probe by the state police, and asked whether the statement of the then principal of the medical college, Sandip Ghosh, was recorded, to which the state lawyer answered in the negative.

Questioning how the principal, who submitted his resignation, was reinstated as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours, the bench asked his counsel to produce both the resignation letter and the subsequent appointment letter.

The high court told Ghosh's lawyer to ask him to go on a long leave by 3 pm, failing which it will pass appropriate orders.

The sensational case snowballed into a major issue across the country with junior doctors and interns across West Bengal resorting to cease work, protesting against the incident and demanding adequate protection to hospital staff.

In solidarity, the Delhi AIIMS' Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) on Monday went on an indefinite strike, suspending all elective and non-essential services including OPDs and wards to protest the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor in Kolkata.

Resident doctors at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh also called the strike to protest against the gruesome incident.

During the hearing, the high court urged agitating doctors in West Bengal to call off their cease work, saying they have a "pious obligation" to treat patients who come to government hospitals.