Why CBI arrested ex-RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the facility. The arrest followed two weeks of questioning related to a separate case involving the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital last month. Ghosh was taken into custody after his 15th day of questioning at the CBI's Salt Lake office in Kolkata.
Ghosh's tenure, subsequent arrest
Ghosh first served as the principal of RG Kar Medical College from February 2021 to September 2023. He was transferred from RG Kar in October that year but returned to that position within a month. Ghosh held his position at the hospital until the day a doctor was found dead there. After this, he resigned from his position but was reinstated in the same position at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours by the Mamata Banerjee government.
Allegations against Ghosh and CBI's charges
The CBI took over the investigations from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team following an order from the Calcutta High Court. The direction came after a plea seeking a probe into alleged irregularities at RG Kar hospital during Gosh's tenure as its principal was filed by the facility's ex-Deputy Superintendent, Dr Akhtar Ali. In his plea, Ali accused Ghosh of illegal sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste and passing tenders against commission paid by medicine and medical equipment suppliers.
Students pressured to pay money to clear exams
Ali also alleged that students were put under pressure to pay amounts ranging between ₹5 lakh and ₹8 lakh to pass exams. This comes in the backdrop of the widespread protest in the state against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar hospital. Protestors across social and political circles of the state have accused the Mamata Banerjee administration of shielding Ghosh by not issuing a suspension order.
