The Trinamool Congress on Saturday said the conviction of Sanjay Roy for the rape and the murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 was an endorsement of Kolkata Police who had probed the case initially.
While the BJP welcomed the “partial justice” for the victim, the CPM hinted at a tacit understanding between the central and the state governments in the case.
“With the court pronouncing him (Roy) guilty, it has been proven beyond doubt that the line of investigation of Kolkata Police was right.... They had arrested the accused, who has now been convicted, within 24 hours of the crime,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said in his immediate reaction to the verdict by the Sealdah court.
The RG Kar incident triggered an unprecedented wave of protests across Bengal — organised by Opposition parties, a section of doctors and civil society members — and brought the healthcare delivery system at state-run hospitals to a grinding halt. Junior doctors at government hospitals had been on strike for 42 days.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee made several attempts to break the deadlock and met the doctors many times, but the movement’s single demand was her resignation. Mamata is in charge of the home and health departments. Theories of the city police trying to shield some influential people in the case were floated.
After the CBI’s takeover of the case following a court order, Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala police station (under whose jurisdiction the RG Kar facility falls), was arrested by the central agency.
Senior officers said the verdict salvaged the image of the Kolkata Police, at least for the time being, as the political slugfest over the crime cast a shadow over the
force’s ability.
“All of them raised slogans demanding a CBI probe and tried to malign the state government for their personal and political gains.... Finally, the verdict has endorsed the investigation of the Kolkata police,” Ghosh said.
The BJP — which had publicly announced the CBI would uncover that there were many behind the rape and the murder, apart from Roy — said the verdict was in the
right direction.
“Although this is partial justice for the victim, the beginning is good,” said the leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, stressing the need for further investigation
BJP’s IT chief and the party’s Bengal co-in-charge, Amit Malviya, took a similar line calling the court order a first step toward justice.
“Sanjoy Roy’s conviction in the RG Kar rape and murder case is a crucial first step toward justice for the deceased woman trainee doctor. However, it does not absolve the Kolkata Police or Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who were involved in destroying evidence and attempting to cover up the crime,” Malviya wrote on his X handle.
The CPM targeted both the police and the CBI.
“On the first day, the chief minister claimed that the main accused had been arrested, and after nearly three months, we see the CBI, Kolkata police, and the state government all aligned in the same direction. The investigation has simply followed the chief minister’s statement. We will not allow this to continue. We will fight for justice until the very end,” said CPM state secretary Md Salim.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury used the opportunity to launch a fresh salvo on the TMC.
“One young, talented doctor had been raped and murdered, and no one should be allowed to escape. Interestingly, this situation is being portrayed by the Trinamool Congress as a victory. I cannot understand the reason behind it,” said Chowdhury.