The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, in connection with alleged financial misconduct at the institution, officials reported. Ghosh had been under scrutiny for 15 days at the CBI’s Salt Lake office regarding the alleged rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee on August 9.
After questioning, he was taken to the agency’s Nizam Palace office in Kolkata, where he was officially arrested. Complaints of financial irregularities during Ghosh’s tenure were lodged by the hospital’s former deputy superintendent, Dr. Akhtar Ali. Following the trainee doctor’s murder, the state government had placed Ghosh on leave.
On August 23, the Calcutta High Court directed that the investigation into alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar hospital be transferred from the state-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This decision followed a petition by former deputy superintendent Dr. Akhtar Ali, who had requested an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into various claims of financial misconduct at the state-run institution during the tenure of its former principal.
In his petition to the high court, Ali alleged that Ghosh was involved in the illegal sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste, and awarding tenders in exchange for commissions from suppliers of medicine and medical equipment. Additionally, Ali claimed that students were coerced into paying between Rs. 5 and 8 lakhs to pass their exams.
Ghosh served as the principal of RG Kar Medical College from February 2021 to September 2023. Although he was transferred from RG Kar in October of that year, he was unexpectedly reinstated to the same position within a month. He remained in this role until the day a doctor at the hospital was discovered murdered.