Kolkata, Aug 8 — While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will continue with its own probe in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case of August 2024, the West Bengal Health Department will also conduct a separate and independent investigation, considering that the victim was a lady junior doctor.
Announcing this on Saturday, state Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee, himself an acclaimed medical practitioner, said the department will share its findings with the CBI.
According to him, the Health Department will question those who went to the scene of crime, reportedly a seminar room within the hospital premises, before and after the ghastly incident on the late night of August 8, 2024. Professors of the deceased victim will also be questioned.
Mukherjee said, “Health Department officials will investigate the incident. Whatever comes out after the investigation will be reported to the central agency. Officials will also listen to the victim’s teachers. The probe will look into gaps in the hospital’s infrastructure and how those gaps were filled later.”
The investigation was initially started by Kolkata Police, who arrested the sole suspect, Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Subsequently, the CBI took over following an order of the Calcutta High Court. However, the victim’s parents accused the then CBI team of a lackadaisical probe.
They approached the High Court for a fresh investigation from scratch by a special investigation team of the CBI.
Recently, a new CBI team began a fresh probe following a High Court order.
Earlier this week, however, a division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh expressed ire over the progress of the investigation, observing that the fresh probe was being overly influenced by the manner in which the old team had conducted it.
The body of the young doctor was discovered inside a seminar hall on the hospital campus on August 9, 2024.
Investigators concluded she had been raped and murdered the previous night while on duty.
The incident triggered widespread protests across West Bengal and other parts of the country, sparking national outrage and demands for justice.