RG Kar rape-murder: Sandip Ghosh, Abhijit Mandal involved in 'larger conspiracy', ex-OC part of crime cover-up nexus, says CBI

KOLKATA: Abhijit Mandal, the former officer-in-charge of Tala police station, and Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital — arrested on Saturday in connection with the gruesome rape-murder of a young doctor on Aug 9 — were on Sunday remanded in three days' CBI custody (till Sept 17) over involvement in a "larger conspiracy" and "destruction of evidence".
Mandal was not an accused in the rape-murder, CBI told the court while seeking his custody; they suspected him of evidence-tampering and involvement in a "nexus or conspiracy".
Ghosh is suspected to have destroyed evidence, CBI said, adding that Mandal and Ghosh had spoken more than once on Aug 9.

"Mandal is not an accused in the rape and murder, but he might be involved in a nexus or conspiracy, and the truth needs to be unfolded," said CBI lawyer Deepak Poria. "We need his custody to confront him and Ghosh in this case. If there is any tampering of evidence, then we want to know whether Mandal was involved in it. We have to investigate and need his custodial interrogation," he added.
CBI said they had charged both Mandal and Ghosh with destruction of evidence, that of a public servant disobeying directions under law, and criminal conspiracy under BNSS (see graphic).
The agency also raised questions on how the case was handled by police. "It was a case against sexual assault and Mandal should have handled the case more carefully," the CBI lawyer submitted in court. "We also know that he spoke to Ghosh multiple times on the day (Aug 9). We suspect they were in conspiracy with each other."

CBI, however, clarified that there was, as such, no clash between the agency and the police. "For us, he is not a police person but an accused who is suspected of destruction of evidence. There is no such clash, and we want to know the truth," Poria said.

Ghosh's lawyer Zohaib Rauf, present during the arguments, did not move for bail. "Allegations by CBI are unsubstantiated," he told court.
Mandal's lawyer Ayan Bhattacharya said that if there had been any dereliction of duty by the officer, it might call for disciplinary proceedings. "CBI is not his employer. He had appeared before CBI six times. He had some medical issues and was in hospital. After that, he again appeared before CBI on Sept 14. Suddenly, the agency on Saturday found out his involvement. What proof did they acquire, which made him an accused person overnight? He has not been told why he was arrested. His wife was told about the arrest through email after 4am," Bhattacharya argued, moving a bail plea.
CBI put forward the anomalies it had found in the chain of events on Aug 9. "Police were informed a little after 10am and they reached the hospital around 11am. The FIR was lodged at 11.45pm and there is a huge time lapse between the information received and the registration of the FIR. The officer was under legal obligation to register the FIR," CBI said. The agency also raised the issue of a delay by the hospital in filing the complaint.
When Bhattacharya started to present his arguments, lawyers at the Sealdah ACJM court protested, claiming the bar had adopted a resolution of not defending any person accused in the rape-murder. Lawyer Rajendra Gupta intervened and said that the doctor's parents were kept sitting there for hours and treated inhumanely. Other lawyers of the court joined him as he spoke. "The defence lawyers should realise that they are supporting a heinous crime," he said. The lawyers continued to intervene to register their protest while the proceedings continued.