The CID will speak to two assistant professors ­at the ­Midnapore Medical College and Hospital on Thursday to probe the allegation that they were not present during the C-section on five women on January 8 and 9, sources in the investigating agency said.

The two assistant professors were supposed to perform the surgeries on the five expecting mothers with assistance from a team of junior doctors, investigators have learnt.

But the junior doctors — postgraduate trainees and an intern — performed the procedure in the absence of the senior doctors, said CID sources.

“Junior doctors, including two postgraduate trainees from the third year and an intern, had performed the C-section in the absence of the assistant professors. We would like to talk to the senior doctors and find out why they were absent and whether their leave was sanctioned,” said an officer.

Besides the two assistant professors, the sleuths will speak to the doctor who was the bed-in-charge when the procedure was performed, said CID sources.

The five mothers took ill after the C-section. One of them Mamoni Ruidas, 30, passed away.

Mamoni, from Garbeta in East Midnapore, delivered a boy on January 8 and passed away two days later after developing complications.

Three others were shifted to SSKM Hospital on Sunday and their condition has remained “critical”. The condition of the fifth woman improved and she was not shifted to SSKM.

A team of CID officers led by a deputy superintendent of police has been questioning officials of the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital since Tuesday.

The investigators have spoken to a clutch of senior doctors at the medical college, including the on-duty resident medical officer, principal Mausumi Nandy and medical superintendent Jayanta Kumar Routh.

The CID officers also met relatives of Mamoni Ruidas and Rekha Shaw, who was not shifted to SSKM.

An official at SSKM said on Wednesday the condition of the three women — Mampi Singh, 23, Nasrin Khatun, 19, and Minara Bibi, 31 — remained “critical”.

“There has hardly been any improvement. A cycle of dialysis was done on Wednesday. The nine-member medical board (which is supervising their treatment) met on Wednesday and reviewed their health and the course of treatment,” the official said.

Joydip Singh, 51, a relative of Mampi, said doctors briefed them on her condition on Tuesday. “The doctors said there is an infection in her kidneys and chest,” Singh said.