The Kolkata Police on Monday (August 26, 2024) clarified that the seminar room where the rape and murder of a female doctor took place at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) was not tampered with, after a video surfaced online allegedly showing several people crowding at the crime scene moments after the body was discovered on August 9.
The video also purportedly shows the presence of Debasish Som, Demonstrator of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at RGKMCH, who is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged financial regularities at the hospital. The presence of the personal assistant of former RGKMCH principal Sandip Kumar Ghosh, a lawyer, and a police officer from the RGKMCH outpost has also been identified.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Indira Mukherjee on Monday (August 26, 2024) rejected claims on the alleged tampering of evidence at the crime scene based on the video. She added that none of the “outsiders” seen in the video, apart from the parents, were allowed inside the cordoned-off area. “A restricted number of people were allowed inside the cordon, including investigating officers, forensic team members, on-duty body-shifting personnel, the victim’s parents, photographers and videographers. No outsiders came inside the 40-ft area,” the police officer said.
Ms. Mukherjee further clarified that the dead body was cordoned off with hospital curtains and none were allowed within 40 ft. “The crowd depicted in the video stood outside the cordon in the remaining 11-ft area of the seminar room. Some people were present there, including the family members, and some doctors from R.G. Kar who sat there writing down their demands, which kept on changing from time to time,” she said.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim commented on the viral video and said, “I have also seen the video. At that moment a few people entered, and in case of such overwhelming situations, a lot of people tend to gather. But soon after, the seminar room was locked and sealed by the forensics.”
Opposition reacts
The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted the video on X and asked, “Even when Abhaya’s parents were kept at bay for hours, how did the outsiders somehow manage to reach the seminar hall?”
BJP Lok Sabha MP Sukanta Majumdar said, “Principal Mr Ghosh, doctors close to him, lawyers are grazing in the crime scene. Looks like a tourist spot the way they are walking around. How will you solve a crime like this? If you handle a crime scene like this, do you think any evidence will be left? They removed direct evidence making it harder for the CBI to investigate.”
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul wrote, “The video clearly shows a crowd of people in the seminar room on the day of the incident. Questions arise as to how so many people could be in the seminar room where the rape and murder occurred. What was the police doing? Was the police administration attempting to destroy evidence under the direction of Health Minister Mamata Banerjee?”
Communist Party of Indian (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty commented on the issue and told The Hindu, “Whatever they were doing in the seminar hall was illegal. It is clear that they were trying to hide evidence. Who were these people? Who called them? All the people should be identified and taken into CBI custody and investigated and questioned immediately.”
CCTV footage
Earlier, CCTV camera footage had surfaced in which Sanjay Roy, the main accused, was seen entering the Chest Department of RGKMCH with a Bluetooth ear device prior to the crime. The victim was a postgraduate trainee of that department and was reportedly close to finishing her 36-hour-long shift at the time of her death.
