The magistrate who performed the inquest on the 31-year-old doctor who was raped and killed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 was among the three persons who deposed before the Sealdah court on Monday.

The other two who deposed in the rape-and-murder case were a witness to the inquest and a videographer who recorded the proceedings.

The three are among the 128 witnesses listed by the CBI.

Sources in the central agency said the magistrate’s statements are crucial because criminal prosecution will be based on his verdict on whether the victim was murdered or not.

Senior police officers said a magistrate’s inquest is a legal inquiry under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita into the cause of an unnatural death.

“A magistrate performing an inquest records all the evidence he finds and that plays a crucial role in the trial of a criminal case,” said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.

A post-mortem reveals the actual cause of the death, including injuries and the presence of poison.

The third-year postgraduate trainee was found dead in a seminar hall of the chest medicine department on the third floor of the Emergency building of RG Kar hospital on the morning of August 9.

The post-mortem report of the junior doctor lists 16 external wounds and nine internal injuries. The report says there were no fractures or injuries to the muscles, bones and joints, police sources aid.

The court has recorded the depositions of nine persons, including the victim’s parents, since the trial started on November 11.

Like on previous days, Monday’s proceedings were carried out in-camera.

Sanjay Roy, the lone accused chargesheeted for the rape and murder, was brought to the court and allowed to hear the depositions, as required by law.

The police — a huge contingent was deployed on the court premises and outside — ensured that Roy remained inaudible even if he attempted to speak to media representatives waiting outside.

Three cops were posted around the van that brought Roy to the court and took him back to Presidency Correctional Home. They kept banging the van to ensure his words were drowned out.