CBI conducts searches in Kolkata over 'financial irregularities' in RG Kar hospital

CBI officials searched premises connected to Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College on Sunday/ PTI

On Sunday, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigators searched the homes and offices of former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh, ex-medical superintendent Sanjay Vashisth, and 13 others in and around Kolkata. The searches are part of an ongoing investigation into potential financial irregularities at the organisation, officials said.

The CBI's anti-corruption unit also raided the homes and workplaces of those involved in supplying items for patient management and care, reported PTI.

IN PHOTOS: CBI conducts raids in Kolkata in connection with RG Kar Medical College corruption case

3 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

According to the news agency report, this action follows an FIR filed by the CBI, as directed by the Calcutta High Court, against Sandip Ghosh and three Kolkata-based private entities: Ma Tara Traders of Madhya Jhorehat, Banipur, and Howrah; Eshan Café of Belgachia; and Khama Louha. The charges include Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as provisions from the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Around seven CBI investigators questioned Ghosh at his Beliaghata home beginning at 8 a.m., while others quizzed Vashisth, the hospital's former medical superintendent and vice principal, and another forensic medicine professor. The CBI team, escorted by a heavy presence of central forces, arrived at Ghosh's residence at 6 a.m. and were kept waiting for approximately an hour and a half before being allowed entry, the news agency added.

According to the report, simultaneously, other CBI officials raided the home of a supplier in Howrah.

"Vashisth is being questioned on how much he knew about the financial irregularities that happened in the hospital when he was the MSVP," an official told PTI.

Additional CBI personnel searched the former principal's office at the hospital as well as the canteen in the academic building. Manas Kumar Bandyopadhyay, the current principal, was instructed to be present at the hospital to accompany CBI investigators throughout the searches, the PTI report added.

These investigations follow the horrible occurrence on August 9, in which a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in the hospital's seminar hall, resulting in the arrest of a Kolkata Police civic volunteer. The tragedy prompted nationwide protests by doctors and citizens. In response, the Calcutta High Court asked the CBI to look into both the murder and the alleged financial irregularities at the hospital, the PTI report stated.