Kolkata, May 15 -- Acting on the BJP's pre-poll promise of reopening the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case files, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, six days after taking oath, suspended three senior IPS officers, including former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, for their alleged mishandling and dereliction of duty during the initial phase of investigation into the crime.

Besides Goyal, former Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Indira Mukherjee and former Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division) Abhishek Gupta have also been suspended. The Chief Minister also stated that a departmental inquiry will be initiated against these officers.

He further stated that the role of the former Chief Minister in the matter would also come under the scanner. However, he clarified that the state government would not interfere in the CBI probe, which is being conducted pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court. "Besides the suspensions of the three IPS officers, the role of the previous CM, Mamata Banerjee, in connection with the incident will also be brought under investigation. The Bengal government will start a departmental probe against these officers," said CM Adhikari at Nabanna. He alleged that the officers were involved in offering bribes to the victim's family and conducting press conferences without written orders.

"As a Home minister, after taking charge of the CM, I seek written opinions from the chief secretary (CS) and home secretary (HS) on the R G Kar issue and the post-incident development. A fact-finding team was working under the leadership of the CS and HS. I wanted to know from them how the then police handled the RG Kar incident. Today, I took this administrative decision after verifying the details submitted by the chief secretary and home secretary," Adhikari added.

The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar room of the chest medicine department on the fourth floor of the hospital's casualty building on August 9, 2024. A 33-year-old civic volunteer, Sanjay Ray, was arrested on suspicion of rape and murder.

Goyal was currently posted as Director General of the State Intelligence Branch, while Gupta was serving as commandant of the Eastern Frontier Rifles in the rank of deputy inspector general, and Mukherjee was posted as Special Superintendent in the state CID. Former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had removed Goyal and Gupta from their posts after the incident.

The victim's mother, Ratna Debnath, later contested the recent West Bengal Assembly election from Panihati on a BJP ticket and won.

In a parallel development, the state government on Friday announced the suspension of the superintendent and chief controller of the Presidency Central Correctional Home. Speaking at the Press conference, Adhikari said that a major search operation was conducted at the Presidency Central Correctional Home.

"Several mobile phones were recovered and seized from inmates there. This menace had been going on in West Bengal for quite some time, either due to the callousness of the previous government or to the direct support of the previous rulers. This could not have happened without the cooperation of the officers in charge of the correctional homes," Adhikari said.

The superintendent of Presidency Central Correctional Home, N. Kujur, and the chief controller, Dipto Ghorai, have been suspended, the CM added. "In some cases, like that of Sheikh Shahjahan (Sandeshkhali case accused) , networks are being run from jail. CM announced a CID probe into the incident.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.