Kolkata rape-murder case: Several locations of RG Kar’s former principal Sandip Ghosh have come under the scanner after raids by the ED
Kolkata rape-murder case: Following Friday’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on several West Bengal locations connected to Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and current subject of CBI custody over suspected financial irregularities, his opulent bungalow has come under scrutiny.
In Kolkata, security guards accompany Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. (Image by Samir Jana/HT)
An assistant to Sandip Ghosh named Prasun Chattopadhyay was arrested by ED investigators during the searches. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already detained Ghosh and three accomplices on September 3 due to suspected financial irregularities at the government-run RG Kar hospital.
After being detained at his home in Subhasgram, South 24 Parganas, Prasun Chattopadhyay was taken to Madhya Narayanpur in Canning by ED officers. According to News18, which cited locals, Sandip Ghosh is accused of building a multi-crore farm house/bungalow on a two-bigha land there three years ago. Ghosh is said to have visited the property with his family.
According to the article, Sandip Ghosh is the owner of the house known as “Sangeeta Sandip Villa,” since he was often seen there with his wife and family. The local media site Ananda Bazar stated that Sandip Ghosh named the home after both himself and his wife, Sangeeta Ghosh.
The raids by the ED were a part of a larger investigation pertaining to suspected financial impropriety at RG Kar Hospital during Ghosh’s term as principal, which included simultaneous searches at nine sites in Kolkata and its environs starting early on Friday morning.
The CBI and ED launched an inquiry into financial irregularities at the hospital after a 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and killed on August 9 at RG Kar hospital, which happened when Ghosh was the facility’s principal.
– Prasun Chattopadhyay, a Sandip Ghosh assistant and data entry operator at Calcutta National Medical College, was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday.
– Similar to a First Information Report (FIR) in a criminal investigation, the ED has filed an Enforcement investigation Information Report (ECIR) against Ghosh.
– Raids were carried out at many places, including Ghosh’s home in Beliaghata, east Kolkata, and two flats in Milan Palli, close to Airport Gate number 2, in the city’s northern section, that belonged to his family.
– At 9.30 am, after an almost three-hour wait, the ED was able to enter Ghosh’s Beliaghata residence. Later, Ghosh’s wife, who had not been there at first, came back to let the cops inside.
– ED officials also searched the homes of Kaushik Koley, an accountant at Biplab Sinha’s company in Sankrail, Howrah, and Sinha, a detained medical equipment supplier.
– Around 11.30 am, the ED at Milan Palli started looking for two homes that Ghosh’s sister-in-law, Arpita Bera, and her husband, Pritin, who are both physicians working for government agencies, owned and leased. The second leased residence was apparently visited by Ghosh.
– During the operation, an ED officer was seen leaving one of the flats with a black trolley bag in tow.
– Around 7 am, an additional ED team sought Ghosh’s in-laws’ home in Baidyabati, Hooghly, but discovered it was closed. After that, they relocated to Kunal Roy’s home in the neighborhood, who works in the medical field.
– Ankur Roy, the proprietor of a laundry in Madurdaha, eastern Kolkata, had his house examined by ED as well. According to reports, Roy’s name came up while the detained suspects were being questioned.
– The office of Crescent Manufacturing Private Ltd., located on Camac Street in the heart of Kolkata’s commercial sector, was also searched by ED agents.
