Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata’s Kar Hospital who is in the eye of the storm after a 31-year-old trainee doctor was found raped and murdered on the institute’s premises, is facing a series of new allegations including taking bribes from students to improve their scores, trafficking medical waste and selling unclaimed bodies. There was no immediate reaction from authorities probing Ghoah, or his counsel. News18 couldn’t independently verify the charges.
Akhtar Ali, former deputy superintendent of RG Kar who has approached Kolkata Police, has alleged that Ghosh ran a nexus from the hospital, earning lakhs from illegal activities. News18 has seen a copy of his complaint.
Speaking to News18, Ali said he had complained to the vigilance department among others about Ghosh in 2023 but no action was taken. Instead, he was transferred for being the whistle-blower.
“I have lodged a complaint against Ghosh. He was a criminal and would earn lakhs from this hospital. Nobody listened to me then. Now, I will also approach the court,” he said.
At the receiving end of public as well as the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court’s rebuke, the former principal now has a fresh set of corruption allegations to deal with, close on the heels of the Mamata Banerjee constituting an SIT to probe graft charges against him.
LIST OF COMPLAINTS
According to Ali, Ghosh sold bio-medical waste, such as gloves and syringes, to his Bangladeshi contacts in contravention of rules which stipulate that such waste can only be handed out to authorised centres for proper disposal and recycling. He also accused the former principal of selling unclaimed bodies apart from pocketing a 20 per cent bribe for all hospital tenders.
“He would take money from students who had failed to make them pass the exams. Several students were victims of this scandal,” he alleged.
Ali said Ghosh wielded such power that no action was ever taken against him despite multiple complaints. “There was a strong nexus so I think nothing happened. I worked there for a long time but no action was taken. I complained against him and was targeted, including being transferred.”
There has been no comment from authorities so far on Ali’s allegations.
NOOSE TIGHTENS
Ghosh, who is being grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is under fire after sources in the agency revealed that his answers were changing in every round of questioning amid efforts to piece together what really happened after the crime was discovered.
The agency is also looking into allegations by the victim’s family that she was under pressure at RG Kar. The CBI wants Ghosh to answer if he was aware of why the victim was feeling pressured and if there was any complaint made to the college authorities regarding the same.
On Monday, the CBI team asked Ghosh to specify his role after getting the news of the doctor’s death, who he had contacted thereafter and why he made the parents wait for nearly three hours before getting to see her body, an agency official said. The former principal was also questioned on who had ordered renovation of rooms adjacent to the seminar hall, after the postgraduate trainee’s body was found there on August 9, he said.
Ghosh hit headlines when he was appointed the principal of National Medical College, just four hours after his resignation from RG Kar, inviting the wrath of the Calcutta High Court.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court slammed Ghosh for trying to pass off the rape-murder as suicide and also questioned him for not allowing the parents of the victim to see the body.
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