A reporter asked a policeman how he knew Sanjay Roy and the cop started running.

He ran on and on until he was inside the CBI office in Salt Lake and in the protection of paramilitary jawans.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Arup Dhar was called to the central agency’s office at the CGO Complex for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday but this was the first time the waiting media crew recognised him.

Dhar is said to have been close to Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer who worked for the police and is in custody for the rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Police sources said the ASI was instrumental in arranging a bed for Roy in the police barracks, which the accused was not entitled to. He also arranged a motorcycle for Roy, the sources said.

Dhar is attached to the fourth battalion of Kolkata Police. A member of the police welfare committee, he is in charge of all welfare activities of the battalion.

A video emerged showing Dhar running inside the CGO Complex to escape the reporters’ questions. The portly cop was seen panting as he made his way towards the elevator on the ground floor of the building to which journalists had no access.

CBI sources said Roy’s call records had thrown up leads which led them to his links with Dhar.

“Sanjay Roy had had several phone calls with him before and after the incident. They went to a police conference at Salua (in West Midnapore) together. They were very close,” said an officer in the central agency.

Sources said Dhar had been questioned about a specific call he received from Roy on the morning of August 9, the day the doctor was found raped and murdered.

“Roy had telephoned him on the morning of August 9. We want to know whether Dhar had helped Roy destroy evidence,” said an officer in the agency.

Roy, who was to be produced in the Sealdah court on Tuesday for his consent to a polygraph test, could not be taken to the court because of “security concerns”, a CBI officer said. Sources said Roy’s consent would be sought in the court on August 23.

The CBI questioned former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday.

Sources said the sleuths were trying to establish the chain of events at the hospital after the doctor’s body was found and whether Ghosh, as principal, had any role in diverting the police investigation.