The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will conduct a lie detector test on four colleagues of the 31-year-old doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier this month and the former principal of the college Dr Sandip Ghosh.
The decision to use the polygraph test comes as the CBI seeks to resolve contradictions in the statements provided by the four doctors, who include two first-year postgraduate trainees, a house surgeon, and an intern.
According to sources quoted by the NDTV, while there is no direct evidence suggesting that these four doctors were involved in the crime itself, investigators want to determine whether they played a role in tampering with evidence or were part of a larger conspiracy. The agency has meticulously reconstructed the sequence of events on the night leading up to the horrific incident.
The timeline, initially established by Kolkata Police before the CBI took over the probe, reveals that one of the doctors discovered the victim’s body in the seminar hall around 9:30 am the following day and immediately alerted the authorities. The four doctors had previously been questioned by city police.
ALSO READ: CBI probe hints Kolkata doctor was not gang-raped: Report
The CBI’s investigation has uncovered that the fingerprints of two of these doctors were found in the seminar room on the third floor where the victim’s body was discovered.
A brief timeline
Additionally, CCTV footage captured the house surgeon moving from the first to the third floor that night. The house surgeon stated that he visited the third floor at around 2:45 am. The intern, who was also present on the third floor, had interacted with the victim that night.
According to sources, the victim had dinner with two first-year postgraduate trainees around midnight. They then moved to the seminar room to watch Neeraj Chopra’s javelin event at the Olympics. At around 2 a.m., the two colleagues left the seminar room to sleep, while the victim stayed behind. The intern, who was also in the vicinity, claimed he was in the interns’ room, which, along with the seminar hall and the sleep room, is located on the third floor.
ALSO READ: Former RG Kar principal Dr Sandip Ghosh to undergo polygraph test
The timeline indicates that around 9:30 am, one of the postgraduate trainees with whom the victim had dinner the previous night went to look for her before ward rounds began. Upon finding her body in a motionless state, he immediately informed his colleagues and senior doctors, who then alerted hospital authorities.
The CBI has obtained court permission to conduct lie detector tests on the four doctors and Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Dr. Ghosh has been under scrutiny for his handling of the situation following the discovery of the body. A special court granted the go-ahead for the polygraph tests, which are conducted only after obtaining court permission and the consent of the suspects.
As the investigation continues, the CBI hopes that the lie-detector tests will help clarify the discrepancies in the statements provided by the doctors and shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of the young doctor.
