Kolkata: Two years after the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a multi-agency probe — with the West Bengal Police and state health dept joining the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) — is focusing on around 30 individuals.The expanded investigation places former Panihati MLA Nirmal Ghosh, local councillor Somnath Dey and family neighbour Sanjib Mukherjee under scrutiny alongside doctors who were on duty on the night of the crime, as authorities re-examine procedural lapses and efforts to alter evidence.Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday tasked Barrackpore police commissioner Amit Kumar Singh with probing irregularities surrounding the victim’s cremation at the Panihati crematorium. According to probe agencies, the process was rushed, with the victim’s family allegedly being barred from signing the cremation certificate. Instead, the signatures of Ghosh, Dey and Mukherjee appeared on the document.The multi-agency team is probing whether this intervention was part of a conspiracy to dispose of the body and destroy forensic evidence before a thorough investigation could be conducted.Simultaneously, investigators have brought under the lens the doctor colleagues who were present on the third floor of the chest dept on the intervening night of Aug 8-9, 2024. Among them are four to six junior doctors and PG trainees who shared a midnight meal with the victim in the staff room before she retired to the seminar hall.While the Sealdah court relied on their testimonies to reconstruct the timeline leading up to her death between 4:45 am and 5:15 am, the probe is now re-evaluating their movements, shift logs and initial statements. Sleuths are working to ascertain if details regarding the crime scene, delayed reporting or initial attempts to label the death as a suicide were concealed or overlooked by those on duty, sources said.Health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said, “It has been two years, yet we have not been able to get to the bottom of the matter; we are still trying to find out what happened, why it happened, who was involved and who bore the responsibility. We are trying to uncover who made the evidence disappear … at least 30 are involved. We are trying to determine exactly who did what and who gave the orders.”He added: “We have reopened relevant files and are working to uncover the truth. Every unanswered question must be examined, and anyone found responsible must face the law. Our resolve is clear — the truth will come out, and justice will prevail.”The victim’s father, Shekhar Debnath, said, “Efforts for justice are underway from both sides. While it was proceeding from one side earlier, it is now moving forward from both sides. The state is fully assisting us so that justice is served fast, and the CBI has formed a new team as well. They have replaced the old team and are trying to gather all information. We are keeping up the pressure … Mamata Banerjee’s govt tried to suppress the matter as they were directly implicated in the crime.”
