Kolkata horror: RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh ‘ordered urgent renovation’ after incident

The West Bengal chapter of India’s national ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (Sep 5) alleged that the ex-principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the dead body of a junior doctor was found, ordered an urgent renovation near the crime site. Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Mazumdar also shared a letter allegedly signed by Sandip Ghosh authorising the renovation work.

Mazumdar wrote on X, “The order, signed by Sandip Ghosh, former director of RG Kar Medical College, is dated August 10, just one day after the victim's death. Despite allegations from colleagues and protesters about tampering with the crime scene, the Police Commissioner denied it."

The alleged letter was dispatched to the executive engineers of several departments of the Kolkata PWD (Public Works Department), asking for the repair of the attached toilets.

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"I would like to inform you that there are deficiencies in on-duty Doctors' Rooms and separate attached toilets in various departments of RGKMC&H, Kolkata. You are hereby requested to do the needful immediately as per the demand of the Residents' Doctors of RGKMC&H,” the purported letter read.

Opposition BJP has now claimed that renovation was ordered to tamper with the crime site, indicating the principal’s involvement in the tragic rape and murder case. These allegations are further corroborated by the fact that hospital authorities first tried to brush off the incident as a suicide. Also, the victim’s father had to wait for at least three hours before he was allowed to see the body.

Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the federal agency investigating the matter, also claimed in the Supreme Court that the crime scene may have been “compromised”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the CBI, also highlighted the delay in filing the FIR.

"As we entered the fifth day of the investigation, everything was altered, including the crime scene," he said.

"The most shocking fact is that the first FIR was registered at 11:45 pm after cremation. The parents were told it was a suicide, then death and then friends of the doctor at the hospital insisted on videography. They also suspected something was amiss," Mehta said.

The CBI also blamed the hospital administration for mishandling the sensitive matter.

(With inputs from agencies)