Trouble has been mounting by the day for former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh. After registering an FIR against him for financial irregularities, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided both the houses of Ghosh on Sunday. In searches that lasted more than 12 hours, CBI officials seized “key documents.” The probe team was seen returning to their Nizam office in Kolkata by late night carrying several files recovered from Ghosh’s premises.
The FIR, based on complaints given by former Deputy Superintendent Akhtar Ali and Senior Special Secretary (Health), names Sandeep Ghosh and three private firms – Tara Traders of Madhya Jorehat, Banipur, Howrah, Ehsan Cafe and Khana Louha.
All four, in the FIR, have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Akhtar Ali had alleged in Kolkata High Court that M/S Ehsan Cafe had none of the requisite documents required to set up and run a cafeteria in RG Kar Medical College and yet was awarded the contract without consultation with the college council, as mandated in the rules.
The former Deputy Superintendent has alleged that M/S Khama Louha had no requisite licence from FSSAI and yet was awarded the contract to run a food stall on government land at RG Kar. “An unethical nexus exists between the principal and the said vendor because in spite of knowing that it is an illegal food stall, he has not taken any steps to stop this,” Ali alleged in High Court.
Ali has alleged that M/S Tara Traders, which supplied food items, was favoured by Sandeep Ghosh during bidding for a skill lab in RG Kar in 2022. He also alleged money laundering in this regard.
The CBI on Sunday raided 15 locations including these three firms, two premises connected with Sandeep Ghosh, the premises of former superintendent – Sanjay Bashisht, supplier Biplab Singh and forensic demonstrator Dr Debashish Som. Som and his wife were also later brought to CBI ‘Nizam’ office in Kolkata.
Polygraph, Raids and Delayed Entry
Dr Sandeep Ghosh initially refused entry to the CBI sleuths at his Kolkata residence. Under scanner for alleged destruction of evidence in the rape and murder case, the former principal has been questioned by CBI Special Crime team for seven days straight. His lie detector test was also conducted on Saturday in connection with the case.
But on Sunday, the former ‘strong man’ of RG Kar made the CBI Kolkata team wait for more than an hour when they came knocking to probe the corruption case handed over by Kolkata High Court. The CBI could subject him to further questioning after scrutinising his bank account details, property papers, digital devices and other files. A team of the agency also visited the administrative block of RG Kar in connection with the probe.
The Opposition in Bengal has alleged that Ghosh spread a regime of terror in RG Kar to cover up his corrupt activities with help from “powerful people in the West Bengal establishment.”
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