KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Monday directed CBI to clarify whether last Aug’s R G Kar crime “was a case of gang rape”, whether this angle was considered during the probe and, if yes, who the suspects were. The state clarified that it had no objection to further probe orders.

Court’s poser

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Monday also asked whether the CBI’s probe was related to the rape-and-murder incident or also covered the alleged destruction of evidence and directed the agency to produce the case diary of the crime at the next hearing on Friday.
A trial court this Jan found civic volunteer Sanjay Roy guilty of the crime and sentenced him to a life in prison. But the victim’s parents approached Supreme Court, alleging the involvement of more people and suspecting a link between the crime and the alleged corruption rings at the hospital. The apex court earlier this week cleared the decks for the parents to approach Calcutta HC for further investigation.
“One person has already been convicted. What was the language of the charges at the trial court? Was it a sole accused committing an offence or was it a case of gang rape? First, make this clear. Thereafter, I will ask for reports. Did you at any point think more than one person was involved?” the court asked.
The victim’s parents’ counsel, Sudipta Moitra, submitted that further probe was necessary as the CBI charge sheet had mentioned a “larger conspiracy”. The parents wanted Calcutta HC to oversee that probe, he added, explaining that they had questioned the delay in the examination of hospital security guards and nurses who were on duty last Aug 9. “The assistant superintendent of the hospital, who first called the victim’s parents and informed them that she was ill, has not been examined till date,” Moitra submitted.
Roy not the only culprit, insist parents
The victim’s parents, after Monday’s hearing, reposed faith in the judiciary but criticised the state and CBI probe, maintaining Roy could not be the sole person behind the crime.
The state did not object to a further probe order but counsel Kalyan Gangopadhyay questioned if further investigation could be allowed after the conclusion of the trial. “Why is the CBI so slow? It has been on this matter for nearly a year,” he said.
Convict Roy was represented by a lawyer appointed by the Calcutta HC Legal Services Committee, which urged that he be made a party to the case. The CBI also arrested R G Kar ex-principal Sandip Ghosh and former Tala OC Abhijit Mandal for conspiracy and destruction of evidence in the rape-and-murder case. They got bail but Ghosh is still in prison for a corruption case.