After CBI, emergency department registers case against former RG Kar hospital superintendent Sandip Ghosh

Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a corruption case against Dr Sandip Ghosh, former director of RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, and others, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now launched a money laundering probe into financial irregularities at the hospital during his tenure.

Emergency department investigators, officials said, have already collected banking and medical purchasing records related to that hospital. (@dir_ed)

People privy to the development said the financial crimes investigation agency has taken cognisance of a First Information Report (FIR) from the CBI in the case to file its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Since the FIR is from the CBI, the names of the accused, including Ghosh, are also the same in the ED probe.

The emergency department investigators, officials said, have already collected banking and medical procurement documents related to the hospital and medical college from various sources and may soon issue summons to the accused for questioning and recording their statements.

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A senior officer said: “We will look into all financial transactions linked to Ghosh and his close associates.”

In its FIR registered on the directions of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI has charged Ghosh and three Kolkata-based private entities – Ma Tara Traders of Madhya Jhorehat, Banipur, Howrah; Eshan Cafe of 4/1, Belgachia and Khama Louha under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 7 (offence relating to bribing a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had on Sunday raided the premises of Ghosh, former medical superintendent Sanjay Vashisth and 13 others in and around Kolkata as part of the probe into alleged financial irregularities at the medical institute which is under the scanner following the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate intern doctor on August 9.

Asked about the evidence presented during the investigation, a CBI officer had told media after the raid: “bahut kuch hai (there is a lot)”.

Ghosh has already undergone a polygraph test along with four other doctors, a civic volunteer and the main accused Sanjay Roy.

The body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor, who was allegedly raped and killed in a seminar room of the government hospital, was found on August 9. Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested in connection with the case.