Kolkata rape-murder: Where the CBI probe has reached

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will conduct a psychological assessment of Sanjay Roy, the accused in a rape-and-murder case of a doctor in Kolkata that has triggered nationwide protests, officials said on Saturday.

A team of psychological and behavioural analysts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Delhi has arrived in Kolkata to conduct the necessary tests, they said.

The CBI has already taken Roy into custody.

The federal agency questioned Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the incident took place, for a second consecutive day on Saturday in connection with the alleged rape and killing of the trainee doctor.

The agency had taken Dr Ghosh for questioning on Friday and it continued till 1.40 am on Saturday.

Dr Ghosh, sources said, was initially questioned on the hospital's response to the death of the victim.

He was seen re-entering the CBI office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake with a bunch of papers and files a little before 10.30 am on Saturday, and hadn't left the premises till reports last received.

Separate teams of the central investigating agency also reached the crime scene at the RG Kar hospital and the barrack of the Kolkata Police's Armed Forces fourth battalion in Salt Lake, where the arrested prime accused, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, was putting up.

At RG Kar hospital, the investigators collected samples and sent those to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory for testing, an officer said.

"At the KP barrack, the team spoke to the policemen who are staying there and enquired about the accused's movements on Friday morning. They took the details of when Roy returned to the barrack and what he did after reaching there," he said.

Later, the same team reached Sambhunath Pandit Street in South Kolkata, Roy's rented residence, and spoke to his mother about his recent whereabouts and recorded her written statement, the officer said.

During his first round of questioning, the former principal was asked about his first reaction after getting the news of the doctor's death, who he instructed to inform the family and who contacted the police, he said.

CBI officials enquired about the weekly roster of the chest medicine department where the victim was seen to be put on duty for a gruelling 36 hours at a stretch or, at times, even 48 hours, the officer said.

"Some of his answers were convoluted. He was grilled till early Saturday and then allowed to leave for home," the officer told PTI.

In an evening development, the Mamata Banerjee government was learnt to have cancelled its bulk transfer order of 43 doctors and 190 female health assistants issued by the state health department on August 16 in the wake of fresh protests that were registered by a section of the agitating doctors.

While the government had initially called the transfers 'routine' and insisted that most doctors were being moved from the periphery regions to the vicinity of Kolkata, the United Doctors Front Association, a nation-wide body of doctors, called the move 'unjust' and an 'attempt to silence demands for justice and security'.

State health secretary N S Nigam told reporters, "The transfer order was issued sometime back. We cancelled it today because had the transfers been brought to effect, it would have further disrupted the services these doctors were providing to patients under the current situation. There's no controversy here."

The Kolkata Police, which is probing the large-scale vandalism at R G Kar hospital in the early hours of August 15, meanwhile, confirmed that the arrest figure in connection with the violence currently stands at 30.

The police were learnt to have summoned for questioning several Left leaders, including DYFI's Bengal secretary Minakshi Mukherjee, who led a significantly large group of protestors during the women's 'Reclaim the Night' programme outside the hospital premises at the time of the violence.

"Of course we will meet the police. But before that we have to consult our lawyers," Mukherjee said.

The body of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor, who was allegedly raped and killed inside a seminar hall of the state-run hospital, was found on August 9.

Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested in this connection.

The victim's parents had moved the Calcutta high court, seeking a court-monitored investigation in the case.

Several other public interest litigation (PIL) pleas were also filed, demanding a CBI probe into the incident.

A preliminary autopsy report suggested that the victim was sexually abused and killed.

It said she 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 arrested Roy, 33, who joined the force as a civic volunteer in 2019. Police have alleged that the accused 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 RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.