Opposition increases pressure on Bengal government over rape and murder in Calcutta

New Delhi [India]September 5 (ANI): A letter purportedly signed by former director of RG Kar Hospital Dr Sandip Ghosh has surfaced suggesting an attempt to alter the crime scene where the trainee doctor was raped and murdered.

The BJP reiterated its demand for the Chief Minister's resignation and stressed the need for a fair investigation.

The purported letter dated August 10 directed the Chief Engineer to undertake urgent repair/renovation/remodeling work of doctors' duty rooms and their separate toilets in all departments of RG Kar Hospital, Kolkata. The letter stated that there are “deficiencies” in doctors' duty rooms and their separate toilets in various departments.

In a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Amit Malviya said, “This is explosive. Yet another piece of evidence that proves that Dr Sandip Ghosh, the now arrested and disgraced former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, ordered repair/renovation of the toilet near the seminar room (crime scene) on August 10, a day after the young doctor was brutally raped and murdered (she was killed on the night of August 8-9).” Malviya claimed that the letter proved that the West Bengal government and the hospital had lied about starting renovation work near the crime scene and accused three of them, including the state police, of “colluding” to destroy all evidence and “clean” the crime scene.

The leader of the opposition in the West Bengal parliament, Suvendu Adhikari, called for the chief minister's mobile phone to be examined for recordings of calls from the day of the incident.

“Mamata Banerjee's people said that the renovation order (for the room near the seminar hall of RG Kar Hospital) was given to PWD before August 9, but today it came to light that the order was received only on August 10,” Suvendu Adhikari told reporters on Thursday.

“Rapists are being hanged, but what happens to those who protect rapists? We have been demanding a change in this regard, but they (the state government) have not agreed. Take Mamata Banerjee's mobile phone and check the call records of August 9 and 10, then everything will come out,” he added.

This development came as the victim’s family spoke out against the Kolkata Police and its ongoing investigation into the case.

“When the daughter's body was lying in the house in front of the parents, the police offered money. Is this humane on the part of the police? The police said they had fulfilled all their duties. Is this the discharge of duty?” the deceased doctor's aunt told reporters during a protest at RG Kar Hospital.

“Till the last rites, we were surrounded by 300-400 policemen, but after that, not a single policeman was to be seen. What should the family do? How should they go home? The police did not take any responsibility. Till the last rites, the police were deployed and after that they were completely inactive,” she added.

Locket Chatterjee, general secretary of the BJP in West Bengal, also attacked the Kolkata police, saying, “Earlier we saw that the Kolkata police issued summons to people saying that they were spreading false news. Now we can see that the Kolkata police are themselves spreading false news.” Locket Chatterjee demanded an inquiry into Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for claiming that the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata was an “organised crime”. West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose alleged that a section of the police force was criminalised and politicised.

“The parents (of the victim) have told me certain things which are very, very heartbreaking. They have also written to me that I have spoken to the Home Minister about this. What they want is justice. The entire Bengali society is seeking justice. Justice will be done. Justice should be done,” Governor Bose said.

“The wrongdoers must be brought to book. They must be punished. People should feel that they can expect justice from the government. But that feeling is not there. This is the situation in Bengal today: there are laws but they are not implemented properly or certain people are discriminated against by laws. The police – part of the police is criminalised, part is corrupt and part is politicised,” the governor added.

Earlier, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, the BJP MP from Purulia, had written a letter to the Director of CBI demanding the arrest of DC Indira Mukherjee and other officials of the Kolkata Police who were involved in tampering with evidence in the RG Kar case.

The body of the trainee doctor was found in the hospital's seminar room on August 9. The incident sparked nationwide protests. A volunteer was arrested soon after. The CBI also arrested Dr Sandip Ghosh for alleged financial malpractice at the medical facility. (ANI)