’Corruption in appointments, misuse of funds’: CBI outlines ’criminal nexus’ run by Former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh

Former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh has been accused of operating a “criminal nexus” for “wrongful gains” as the CBI continues its investigation into alleged financial irregularities. The probe agency had arrested Ghosh as well as two two vendors and his security person last month amid furore over the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor.

“It is revealed that they all have been frequently in touch with each other, which corroborates the allegation of criminal nexus as in the FIR. Evidence collected during (the) investigation conducted so far, has revealed that Dr Sandip Ghosh, in criminal nexus with other co-accused persons, by way of illegal means, caused wrongful loss to the government and corresponding wrongful gain to himself and other accused persons,” PTI quoted the CBI submission as explaining.

The central agency outlined its allegations in a submission to a special court in Alipore on September 3.

According to the CBI submission, Ghosh had known the two arrested vendors since he was posted with the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital between 2016 and 2018.

“Both these vendors were in Murshidabad and Ghosh brought them to Kolkata when he was made the principal of the RG Kar hospital. They were favoured for supply of materials to the hospital…We have found that they granted the contracts of RGKMC&H (RG Kar Medical College and Hospital) only because of their proximity with Ghosh,” and officer told PTI.

The probe agency is also investigating the role of his security guard as "he was the person who used to contact vendors to sell the biomedical waste of the hospital".

Ghosh has also been accused of appointing house staff with an arbitrary selection process. As per the CBI submission, signatures of committee members were absent in the appointment of house staff in 2022 and 2023. While “letters of work order used to be addressed to different officers” of the hospital, the CBI said that these were “never handed over to them”.

The CBI’s probe also revealed how Ghosh “favoured” the organisation belonging to his security guard's wife by awarding the contract of a cafe inside the hospital.

(With inputs from agencies)