Ex-RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh slapped outside special court

KOLKATA: Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was part of a "bigger nexus" that needed to be unearthed, CBI — probing charges of graft and financial irregularities — told a special court on Tuesday. He was sent to eight days' CBI custody, till Sept 10.
Even as a posse of 12 CBI officers and 25 CRPF personnel struggled to protect him, Ghosh could not completely escape the public fury against him.He was assaulted twice: slapped inside the courtroom by agitating women lawyers, and hit on the back of his head by a protester outside.

Ghosh was arrested in the graft case on Monday. Three others — Ghosh's security guard Afsar Ali Khan (44); Biplab Singha (52), the owner of Maa Tara Traders, an RG Kar vendor; and Suman Hazra (46), owner of a medical shop in Howrah that allegedly sold recycled medicines from RG Kar Hospital — who were also arrested in the corruption case were similarly given CBI custody till Sept 10.
CBI counsel Rambabu Kanojia told the court that the four accused were all part of the nexus, and that there were more people involved. "There is a larger nexus, which has to be probed," he said.
Around 3.30pm, when Ghosh and the others were being taken out of CBI's anti-corruption branch office at Nizam Palace on AJC Bose Road, hundreds of people — employees of govt offices at Nizam Palace and that of several private offices on Camac Street — gathered outside, chanting slogans of "Chor, chor" and "Justice for Tilottama".
Once they reached Alipore, an even bigger crowd of protesters awaited them, shouting slogans of "Dhik-dhik dhikkar (Shame! Shame!)" and a volley of abuse. The CBI team rushed them into the courtroom and slammed shut the main door leading to the courtroom on the first floor to keep the protesters out.
Inside the courtroom, a group of women lawyers began abusing him and even assaulted him with a sharp slap. As the three others entered, their faces covered, there was a louder furore from a section of lawyers, who demanded their faces be uncovered.
Court proceedings could begin only at 4.05pm, about 15 minutes since the four accused had stepped into the courtroom, because the stream of abuse showed no signs of letting up, even as judge Sujit Kumar Jha banged his gavel, demanding "order", all the while. At one point, the judge had to even call Ghosh and the others to a place near his dais to shield them and calm the protesters down.
CBI has booked the four on charges of taking illegal gratification by a govt servant (Section 7, Prevention of Corruption Act); a public servant committing criminal misconduct (Section 13 clause 2 of Prevention of Corruption Act); cheating (Section 420 IPC); criminal breach of trust (Section 409 IPC); 120B (criminal conspiracy); and forgery of a document (Section 467 IPC), among others.
Kanojia demanded 10 days' CBI custody for the accused, saying "the ambit of the offence is big" and that the crime is "very serious in nature". "We need to collect further evidence. Moreover, there could be some other offence that may surface during investigation," Kanojia told the court.
Ghosh's lawyer Zohaib Rauf, who did not move a bail petition, pleaded for a shorter custody, saying Ghosh had been cooperating with the agency so far. "He had gone to the CBI office even on Monday, when he was arrested. He had attended the interrogation each day he was sent a summons. The court is requested to consider the period of detention," Rauf told the court. The other three moved for bail, which the court turned down.
While the accused were being taken out of the court, CBI called in for reinforcements. Ten more CRPF personnel joined the group and formed a cordon to protect them as they walked out to enter the car. However, as they walked out, a group of protesters began abusing Ghosh. One of them even managed to break past the cordon and hit Ghosh at the back of his head just before he was pushed inside the CBI car.
"CBI has arrested him in the financial fraud case, but we want them to probe and question him in the rape and murder of the doctor as well," said a protester. "He cannot shrug off responsibility for the crime. We want justice for the doctor and we want CBI to continue questioning him and find all other culprits."