Kolkata: In significant developments in the Kolkata doctor's rape and murder case, the CBI has slapped charges of tampering with evidence against the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh.
The agency has also arrested Abhijit Mondal, the officer in charge of Tala Police Station, for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of the on-duty woman medic in the RG Kar Hospital, officials said. The hospital is under the jurisdiction of Tala Police Station. On August 9, the semi-nude body of the woman postgraduate trainee was recovered from the seminar hall of the hospital.
The incident led to massive protests by doctors nationwide, including the junior medics in Kolkata, who have since persisted with the agitation. The impasse between the junior doctors and the government continued as the proposed meeting between the agitating medics and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fell through with the protesters claiming that they were asked to leave "unceremoniously" after waiting for three hours on Saturday evening at the gates of CM's residence.
Earlier on Saturday, Banerjee had made a surprise visit to the site where the medics were protesting and asked them to come for talks.
Here are the 10 latest points on the story so far
- After the protesters refused to enter Banerjee's residence due to the government's rejection of their demand for a live telecast, she came out to appeal to the doctors to join the talks and urged them "not to insult her," and promised them that a signed copy of the minutes of the meeting would be given. The protesters claimed they agreed to have the meeting without the live-streaming, a key demand of theirs.
- An agitating doctor, before leaving the venue, said they had agreed to attend the meeting without live-streaming or video recording as Banerjee requested, but after notifying Minister of State for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, of this decision, they were told to leave because it was too late and the officials had been waiting for three hours.
- The CBI, which is probing the incident, added charges of tampering with evidence in the rape-murder case against former RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh, who is currently in judicial custody and arrested Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala police station, on charges of misleading the investigation and altering the crime scene.
- Mondal, who was on Saturday questioned by the CBI officers at their CGO Complex office in Kolkata for several hours, was arrested in the evening after he failed to give them satisfying answers. The police officer was arrested on charges of destruction of evidence and others, the officer said adding Mondal was also accused of delaying in lodging the FIR. Quoting a CBI officer, PTI reported Mondal had been questioned eight times earlier and every time he gave different versions. He was taken to a hospital for the customary post-arrest medical test.
- Three persons have so far been arrested in connection with the rape and murder case including one civic volunteer who was arrested by the Kolkata Police initially and is now being investigated by the CBI on an order of the Calcutta High Court.
- On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee again attempted to persuade doctors to give up their protest and resume duties. She made a surprise visit to the protest site outside Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake and assured them that she would look into their demands and take action if anyone was found guilty. Addressing the protesting doctors amid chants of 'we want justice', she described her visit as the "last attempt" to resolve the crisis.
- She assured them that she would not take any action against them as she did not believe in suppressing a democratic movement. Banerjee, who was accompanied by DGP Rajiv Kumar, promised to "study their demands and take action if anyone was found guilty."
- Later in the evening, responding to Banerjee's visit, the doctors wrote to the state government expressing their desire to sit for talks, which was readily accepted, and they were asked to come to the CM's Kalighat residence. The proposed talks, however, did not take off after protesters refused to enter the venue following the state's rejection of their demand to live telecast the meeting. In a bid to persuade the protesters, Banerjee came to the gates of her residence and appealed to the agitating doctors to join the meeting.
- "I request you all to come inside and attend the meeting. As the matter is before the court, we cannot allow live streaming. I will video-record the meeting and provide you with a copy only after permission of the Supreme Court," she told the doctors. "I will provide you with the signed copy of the minutes of the meeting. Today, you said you wanted a meeting, so I have been waiting. Why are you people insulting me like this? Earlier on three occasions, I have been waiting but you people didn't come," she said.
- As the doctors huddled for an emergency meeting with the co-protesters, DGP Rajeev Kumar, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, and MoS Bhattacharya left the venue, saying it was too late for the talks. A doctor said when they communicated this decision to Bhattacharya, they were informed that it was too late and that they had been waiting for three hours, resulting in them being unceremoniously asked to leave the venue. The doctor said the incident reflected the true intentions of the state government. The agitating doctors announced that their 'cease work', which has been ongoing for the last 35 days, will continue until their demands are met.
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