The CBI on Friday told a delegation of junior doctors from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital that the central agency “cannot divulge the details of an ongoing investigation” being monitored by the Supreme Court, one of the protesting doctors said.

The junior doctors had on Thursday cited lack of clarity about the investigation into the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar for continuing with the cease-work, despite the Supreme Court saying that it expected the doctors to resume work.

One of the junior doctors who met the CBI officers said that to almost all their questions, the sleuths had one reply: “The matter is sub judice”.

The five-member team told the central agency that whether the doctors would withdraw their cease-work or not depended on how the CBI probe progressed. The doctors said they also told the CBI officers about their suspicions.

The five doctors — all postgraduate trainees — arrived at the agency’s office in the CGO Complex in Salt Lake around 5.15pm and spent about 40 minutes inside.

Arnab Mukherjee, one of the doctors in the delegation, said they wanted to know “which direction the investigation is headed”.

“The CBI told us that the investigation is being monitored by the Supreme Court and they could not divulge details of an ongoing probe. However, they assured us that they were doing all they could,” said Mukherjee. “They told us to keep faith in the agency.”

CBI officers later told Metro that there was no question of sharing details with anyone as the investigation was in progress. The agency filed a status report on the probe
in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

One of the demands of the junior doctors since the start of their cease-work has been the arrest of all culprits involved in the rape and murder. Only one person — civic volunteer Sanjay Roy — has been arrested in the case, while the protesters suspect that multiple persons were involved in the crime.

Aniket Mahato, another postgraduate trainee who met the CBI officers, said the doctors conveyed their doubts and suspicions to the sleuths.

“Why was the FIR registered so late? We told them we believe that more than one person was involved in the crime. They listened to us but did not respond,” said Mahato.

“We told the officers that whether the cease-work would be lifted or not depends on their probe and what they find out.”

The doctors said a fortnight had passed since the August 9 rape and murder and that they were still in the dark about the progress of the probe.

“We want the real perpetrators to be arrested. We will not stop our demonstration till everyone involved in the rape and murder is arrested. We also want all those who vandalised the hospital (past August 14 midnight) to be arrested. The purpose of the vandalism was destruction of evidence. We had a meeting with junior doctors across the state and decided not to return to work,” said Mukherjee.

The protesting junior doctors decided to visit the CBI office at a meeting late on Thursday. An appointment was fixed after speaking with officers of the agency, said a junior doctor.

Only five of them went to the CBI office, in contrast to Wednesday’s march to Swastha Bhavan which was joined by hundreds of junior doctors.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud told the lawyers for the protesting doctors during Thursday’s hearing that “justice and medicine cannot go on strike”.

The CJI also asked: “How does the public health infrastructure run if doctors do not resume work?”

But the junior doctors said their cease-work would continue so long their primary demand — the arrest of all culprits — is not met.