Trinamul on Monday claimed vindication by the CBI’s initial charge-sheet against arrested civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy, suggesting he was the sole perpetrator of the grisly rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar, and that there was no gang rape.

This was a virtual echo of what Kolkata Police had preliminarily inferred in the first couple of days after the incident.

The Opposition, however, was willing to have none of it.

Trinamul’s Kunal Ghosh asked those who had demanded a CBI probe — it was entrusted to the central agency by Calcutta High Court four days after the incident came to light on August 9 — what they have to say now.

“You had wanted a CBI probe. The CBI holds guilty for the rape and the murder just the one person, whom Kolkata Police had arrested (on August 10),” he said.

“In their chargesheet, they did not mention anybody for involvement in the alleged gang rape, criminal negligence in the autopsy, tampering of evidence at the police station level… despite the fact that all the people concerned were either in their custody or within their reach,” added Ghosh.

“In the future, who will be framed in what narrative, let’s see. But if they (the CBI) did have evidence, why was nobody, or none of it mentioned in the chargesheet?”

In response, CPM state secretary Md Salim said the issue went far beyond this specific crime and that it was a part of a “much larger conspiracy” at not only RG Kar but also the entire public healthcare system.

“There was, indubitably, a culture of threats, syndicate operations, and financial misconduct undermining the healthcare infrastructure in the Trinamool Congress regime,” said Salim.

“Allegations of evidence-tampering and crime scene mutilation are directly linked to the doctor’s rape and murder. The CBI must address these concerns. If they fail, we will hold them accountable, just as we did with Kolkata Police,” he added.

The BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya said while the initial charge-sheet by the CBI might allow conjecture that Sanjoy Roy was the sole perpetrator, it does not allow Kolkata Police to claim their investigation was on the right track.

“Did Kolkata police arrest (now-removed principal of RG Kar) Sandip Ghosh or the former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal? Both seem equally involved in the crime, allegedly involved in tampering with evidence, and protecting the actual perpetrators,” claimed the Rajya Sabha member. “The investigation continues, and more people are likely to face consequences.”

Virtually echoing him, the Congress’s chief spokesperson for Bengal Soumya Aich Roy added: “The CBI suspects their (Ghosh's and Pal's) direct involvement, yet Kolkata Police gave them a clean chit.”

“Why? Who were they trying to protect? If this was merely a case of rape-and-murder, why was the now-removed commissioner of police (Vineet Goyal) involved?” he asked. “Why was the body cremated despite the family’s desperate pleas to have it preserved? The CBI must find these answers…. I believe the central agency will uncover the larger conspiracy.”