Bengal Government Transfers 4 Top RG Kar Officials Amidst Intensified Protests

In the eye of an in testified protest demanding justice over the horrific RG Kar rape and murder, the government of West Bengal on Wednesday acceded to the demands of the protesting doctors and transferred four senior officials of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (MCH). Four senior officials transferred including the recently appointed Principal Sunrita Paul, Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal Bulbul Mukherjee, Chest Medicine department head Arunabha Datta Chowdhury and assistant superintendent Daipayan Biswas. The resident doctors, protesting members at RG Kar had given a demand list to the state government which included the removal of the Saif officials from the MCH.

“We have accepted all of their demands. I have spoken with the delegation of the doctors over phone. We are with the doctors. The four officials have been transferred as was demanded by the doctors. We urge the doctors to now resume operations at RG Kar and let us together run the hospital for greater public service”, said Narayan Nina, West Bengal Health Secretary. He also added that the former principal of RG Kar, Sandip Ghosh, whose transfer to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital in the middle of the public uproar over the administration at RG Kar soon after the rape and murder, stoking further anger and fear of political patronage, has been stayed. “We have cancelled the transfer order to Calcutta medical college and Hospital. Sandip Ghosh has been sent on leave”, added the Health Secretary.

Sandip Ghosh has been under the CBI scanner, ever since the matter has been handed over to the central agency. He has appeared before the agency for five consecutive days, examined for more than 12 hours on an average every day. Soon after the brutal rape and murder of the second-year PGT doctor, students and resident doctors had erupted against the Principal seeking accountability. The bereaved family had also claimed the first phone call they had received from the hospital on August 9, stated that the doctor had committed suicide. Students had alleged that the principal possibly tried hushing up the heinous crime as suicide to save on reputation. Ghosh, in middle of protest, had tendered resignation but the government of West Bengal instead of accepting that, transferred him to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH). But students at CMCH didn’t allow him to enter into his office and eventually the Calcutta High Court sent him on leave.

Supreme Court of India had taken a suo motto cognisance of the matter of Tuesday and had sought a status report on the probe conducted by CBI on Thursday when the matter will resume. The bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud had questioned the state over the haste in transferring the former principal. Kolkata Police, too, have been asked to submit a status report on their probe into the vandalism inside the RG Kar premises on the interring night of August 14 and 15, by Thursday.

The health department has, in the meanwhile appointed Manas Banerjee as the new principal at RG Kar MCH. Banerjee had briefly replaced Ghosh in 2023 as the principal but he couldn’t enter the office at RG Kar MCH since Ghosh had allegedly locked the principal room, only to return in three days after the government reinstated him, replacing Banerjee.