RG Kar Hospital junior doctor heading agitation faces probe by Bengal govt
The move comes days after the state police initiated a probe against another trainee doctor from the same hospital who is also a face of the agitation following the August 9, 2024, rape and murder case
Kolkata: The West Bengal Medical Council has asked Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to state whether Kinjal Nanda, one of the prominent faces of the movement following the August 9, 2024, rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor on campus, has been skipping classes and duty, officials said.
“The Council has sent a letter to the hospital asking the administration to state in seven days whether Nanda’s attendance at classes and the hospital wards met the mandatory requirement of 80% and whether he frequently took leave,” a health department official said, requesting anonymity.
Dr Kausik Biswas, a member of the Council, told the media on Saturday that there is nothing irregular about the inquiry.
“Post-graduate students have to undergo full-time training. So, the inquiry is valid if there is a reason to initiate one,” he said.
The Council made the move days after the state police initiated a probe against Asfaqullah Naiya, another trainee doctor from the same hospital and also a face of the movement, based on an allegation that he was wrongly described as an MD (doctor of medicine) in a pamphlet released by organisers of a health camp in Hooghly district last year.
Claiming that the camp offered free service and he did not print any pamphlet, Naiya moved the Calcutta high court, alleging harassment by the state. His petition is being heard by the court.
Nanda, who is also an amateur actor, argued that he has the freedom to pursue personal interests beyond duty hours.
“I welcome the inquiry but what I do in my personal time is entirely my business. When the police made the move against Naiya, we knew more doctors would be targeted,” said Nanda.
Back-to-back inquiry against two junior doctors - who led the movement and even held meetings with chief minister Mamata Banerjee alongside their fellow agitators - have triggered allegations of political vendetta by the ruling Trinamool Congress.
“The chief minister is nurturing vengeance against those who speak against her. These are revengeful actions” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Bengal unit general secretary Agnimitra Paul said.
Parents of the rape and murder victim have always stood by the junior doctors who demanded justice for their daughter during a five-month movement on the streets of Bengal.
“Their agitation will intensify if the government targets them. Being in charge of the health department, the chief minister should accept her responsibility and resign,” said the victim’s father.
Also from RG Kar Hospital, Aniket Mahato, a third prominent face of the junior doctors’ movement, alleged that the state is trying to create fear in the medical fraternity.
“We will hit the streets again if the government continues to create fear among doctors,” Mahato said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) state general secretary Kunal Ghosh claimed that the allegations of vengeance are baseless.
Ghosh said: “A section of junior doctors had alleged that some members of their fraternity used the agitation as a platform for professional gain. They said some of their colleagues do not attend duty. The inquiry is a government affair and has nothing to do with politics.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the August 9, 2024 crime, has filed an appeal at the Calcutta high court seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy, the only suspect to be convicted so far.
The protesters and the victim’s family are speaking against the CBI since it has not yet framed charges against Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, and Abhijit Mondal, the local Tala police station’s former officer-in-charge. Both were arrested by CBI on September 14 and charged with tampering of evidence. Ghosh is also facing investigation in a separate case relating to financial corruption at the hospital. Both were granted bail on December 13.
Roy, 34, a civic volunteer who worked for Kolkata police during the crime, was sentenced to jail for rest of life under Sections 66 (rape), 64 (causing injury resulting in death) and 103 (1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by Kolkata’s Sealdah court on January 18.
The TMC government moved the Calcutta high court division bench of justice Debangsu Basak and justice Md Shabbar Rashidi on January 21, seeking capital punishment for Roy. The CBI opposed to the Bengal government’s appeal saying only the probe agency can challenge the trial’s court’s decision.
The division bench is scheduled to hear the CBI’s appeal on January 27.
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