Kolkata: Three IPS officers, including former Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, have been placed under suspension by the West Bengal government for mishandling the R G Kar rape and murder case.
This was announced by West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari at a press conference on Friday.
The two other senior officers suspended are Abhishek Gupta and Indira Mukherjee. While Gupta was then the deputy commissioner of police (north), Mukherjee held the position of deputy commissioner of police (central).
The officers were involved in offering bribe to the family and conducting press conference without a written order, Adhikari alleged. Departmental proceedings will be initiated against the three IPS officers, he added.
The departmental proceedings against the three senior officers will be spearheaded by the state home secretary under the guidance of the chief secretary, Adhikari said.
He will not interfere in the investigation into the actual crime that is being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the CM said.
The gruesome incident occurred on August 9, 2024. A junior doctor at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was found dead inside a seminar hall of the hospital building. The police later arrested a 33-year-old civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy for the rape and murder.
The investigation was also handed over to the CBI. A court in Kolkata subsequently sentenced Roy to life.
The incident sparked off massive protests, not only across West Bengal, but in several other states. Doctors and paramedical staff held demonstrations and also went on strike, demanding action against the accused.
The CBI probe has revealed several malpractices at the hospital where the crime occurred. A few top officials have been named as accused in the larger conspiracy.
The victim’s mother Ratna Debnath who was elected as an MLA from the Panihati Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket, had said that one of her goals was to get justice for her daughter. The family has been alleging that they were not satisfied with the investigation into the matter.
In April this year, the family told Calcutta High Court that they had gathered information on several aspects, which were not adequately examined by the CBI and the state police. They stated that a forensic expert’s opinion suggests that multiple individuals may have been present at the time of the incident.
