Kolkata rape-murder case: Who are the women CBI officers in charge?

People across India are protesting the rape and murder of a doctor inside the premises of Kolkata's R G Kar Medical College and hospital.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers have been questioning the former principal of the college, Sandip Ghosh in connection to the case. The CBI took over the probe on August 14.

The responsibility for the case has been handed over to two CBI women officers who previously handled investigations such as the Hathras rape-murder case and Unnao rape case.

According to a report by NDTV, the Kolkata case will be handled by Sampat Meena, a 1994 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand and Seema Pahuja, an Additional Superintendent of Police.

A team of 25 officers will be working for the case lead by Sampat Meena, meanwhile the ground level investigation will be carried out by Seema Pahuja.

Who is Sampat Meena?

Serving as the additional director of CBI, Sampat Meena advocates women's issues and human rights. Meena is a 1994 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand. She worked as a joint director and was made the additional director of CBI in August 2023. Prior to this, she was posted as IG in BPR&D in New Delhi. During this period, she worked on issues of child trafficking.

Meena is the first woman IPS officer to be posted as SSP, Ranchi. She has also been the SP of Dhanbad, Deoghar and Jamtara.

Meena belongs to a family of IAS and IPS officers. Her father is a retired IPS officer and her husband, Surendra Singh is an IAS officer.

Meena secured conviction in the 2017 Unnao rape case. She played a major role in convicting BJP leader and local MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

Who is Seema Pahuja?

Seema Pahuja had worked with Meena on the Hathras rape case. She has also been awarded a gold medal twice for excellent investigation between 2007 and 2018. She has an experience in investigating cases under the Special Crime Unit.

Pahuja was also in charge of the 2017 Gudiya case, where a 16-year-old girl's body was found in a Himachal Pradesh forest. The accused was then sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021.

The case had made use of advanced DNA technology to find the culprit. After interrogating over 1,000 locals and testing DNA of over 250 people, they found the culprit.

Pahuja and Meena also worked together in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras case where a 19-year-old girl was gang raped by four men, and later succumbed to injuries.

In the Kolkata rape and murder case, the CBI will be conducting a psychological assessment of the accused Sanjay Roy. The CBI has taken Roy into custody.

(With PTI inputs)