The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has serious allegations against Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. According to the CBI, Dr Ghosh manipulated the recruitment process for medical house staff, favouring certain candidates over others.
The agency claims that Dr Ghosh implemented a system of interviews for house staff appointments, but there were no official interview panels. Instead, only the final marks from these interviews were released before recruitment decisions were made. This, the CBI alleges, allowed Dr Ghosh to compile a list of house staff that excluded many qualified medical trainees.
Mismanagement of Contracts
The investigation also highlights alleged misconduct regarding the awarding of contracts at the hospital. Dr. Ghosh is accused of awarding contracts to his associates in breach of established rules and procedures. The CBI has scrutinized the process by which the hospital's canteen contract was given to Nargis, the wife of Dr. Ghosh's security guard.
The agency found that the contract was awarded to her company, Eshan Cafe, in a manner that contravened proper bidding procedures. Documents revealed that the bid amount was handwritten, and Dr. Ghosh even reportedly returned the non-refundable caution money to her firm.
Arrests and Financial Irregularities
Dr. Ghosh was arrested last month in connection with these financial irregularities. Alongside him, two vendors and his security guard have also been taken into custody. The CBI alleges that Dr. Ghosh had established a "criminal nexus" with these individuals to secure wrongful gains.
The two vendors, who were previously known to Dr. Ghosh from his tenure at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, were reportedly favored for supplying materials to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Evidence collected by the CBI indicates that this illicit network resulted in significant financial losses to the government.
The scrutiny into RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's financial dealings intensified following a tragic incident at the facility. On August 9, a doctor was found dead in the hospital's seminar room. The autopsy revealed that she had been raped, assaulted, and strangled. The police have arrested a Kolkata police civic volunteer, Sanjay Ghosh, as the primary suspect in this heinous crime. The tragic event has cast a shadow over the ongoing investigation into financial and administrative malpractices at the hospital.
