The Calcutta High Court on Thursday, May 21, directed a fresh investigation into the rape and murder case of the R G Kar Medical College’s trainee doctor by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The probe will be headed by an officer in the rank of Joint Director of the central probe agency.
Order was passed by the division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh after considering the demands raised by the victim’s family members in the matter and observing that their petition for a fresh probe was justified, IANS reported.
The young medic was raped and murdered in the hospital on the night of August 9, 2024. The incident caused major uproar in the state as well as among the doctors’ community across the country.
The plea in the High Court comes as there have been allegations that evidence was destroyed and attempts were made to downplay the incident in its immediate aftermath.
The next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for June 24, while the CBI has been directed by the court to submit a progress report before the division bench on the next date of hearing.
An SIT of Kolkata Police had initially probed the matter and arrested the sole convict in the case, Sanjay Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to the city police.
Later, the CBI took over the investigation in the case after a direction from the Calcutta High Court and also identified Roy as the sole accused in the crimes of rape and murder.
Roy was subsequently convicted by a trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Later on, the CBI challenged the trial court order before the High Court and sought death penalty for Roy.
The victim’s family members also approached the High Court seeking a fresh investigation in the matter.