A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers visited RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday as part of a fresh probe ordered by the Calcutta High Court into the 2024 rape and murder of a trainee doctor and allegations of evidence destruction linked to the case.
According to officials, the six-member team included a senior officer at the joint director level. Investigators were scheduled to meet the hospital's principal, medical superintendent, vice-principal and other officials before revisiting locations connected to the crime. “They are supposed to meet with the principal, medical superintendent, vice principal and other officials of the hospital. They are likely to visit the spot in the hospital where the crime took place,” an official familiar with the investigation said.
The trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside the hospital on the night of August 9, 2024, an incident that sparked nationwide protests by medical professionals and widespread public outrage. The case subsequently led to allegations that evidence had been tampered with and that attempts were made to downplay the crime in its immediate aftermath.
Last month, the Calcutta High Court directed a fresh investigation into allegations of destruction of evidence and concerns raised by the victim's family regarding the handling of the case. The court tasked the CBI with re-examining the sequence of events from the victim's dinner on the night of the crime until her cremation the following day.
The agency has been granted the authority to question any individual considered relevant to the investigation. It has also been asked to scrutinise the specific allegations made by the victim's family and submit a report before the next hearing scheduled for June 25.
The renewed probe comes days after West Bengal Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said the state government had reopened files related to the RG Kar case. The minister recently met the victim's parents, who have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with previous investigations and demanded a more comprehensive inquiry.
The CBI's visit to RG Kar Hospital marks the first major on-ground step in the fresh investigation ordered by the High Court, with investigators expected to reconstruct events and examine whether any evidence connected to the crime was destroyed or concealed.
