RG Kar case: CBI custody of Sandip Ghosh, Abhijit Mondal extended till Sep 25

Kolkata, Sep 20 (IANS) A special court in Kolkata on Friday extended till September 25 the CBI custody of the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital Sandip Ghosh and ex-Station House Officer (SHO) of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal in connection with the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor within the premises of the state-run hospital last month. 

Both Ghosh and Mondal have been accused of misleading the initial phase of the investigation into the incident conducted by the Kolkata Police before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was handed the charge of the probe by the Calcutta High Court.

Ghosh and Mondal are also accused of tampering with the evidence during the initial stages of the investigation.

On Friday, the special court judge observed that there are two aspects in the rape and murder case -- the first being co-conspiracy directly in the rape and murder, and the second is the co-conspiracy in tampering of evidence after the crime.

Thereafter, the judge questioned the CBI counsel whether the investigating officials had got any proof regarding the involvement of Ghosh and Mondal in any of the two aspects of the crime.

The CBI counsel replied that although no concrete evidence in the matter is available so far, the possibilities are high.

The CBI counsel said that the CCTV footage of Tala Police Station proved that at around 10 a.m. on August 9, when the body of the victim was recovered from the seminar hall of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Abhijit Mondal, was not at the police station.

An investigation is being carried out regarding Mondal's whereabouts during that time, the CBI counsel informed the court.

The CBI counsel also argued in favour of conducting the narco-analysis of Sandip Ghosh and the polygraph of Abhijit Mondal.

The counsel submitted in the court that both Ghosh and Mondal had been constantly misleading the investigation officials, and therefore, the central probe agency was placing an appeal for those tests.