Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the state government would replace the health secretary if it establishes that he ordered repairs to washrooms adjoining the seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered on August 9, 2024.
The repairs began a day after the incident, prompting allegations that work may have affected potential evidence. Protesters had questioned whether the washrooms formed part of the crime scene. Adhikari said the government would examine the health secretary’s role after speaking with the victim’s mother and the health minister.
“PWD handled building maintenance and electrical work. After the victim’s mother spoke to me and the health minister, we would examine whether the current health secretary, who also held the post then, had ordered repairs and, if so, we will replace him,” Adhikari said.
The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration of MeDe Vision, the medical student cell of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, at RG Kar. The victim’s mother and Panihati MLA Ratna Debnath were present on the dais.
Adhikari described the rape-murder as painful, barbaric and shameful. He also said the BJP government had suspended three police officers: Vineet Goyal, Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta. The statement places the question of hospital maintenance within a wider dispute over administrative responsibility and the handling of the case after the crime.
The chief minister further claimed that a file seeking prosecution of other officials and doctors connected to the case had remained pending with the previous chief minister for two-and-a-half years. He said he granted the required no-objection certificate within a day of taking office. The claim was made by Adhikari in his address and was not independently detailed in the supplied report.
Adhikari also alleged that a mob vandalised the hospital on the night of August 14, 2024, with the backing of the then local MLA, and accused the former chief minister of tacitly approving the incident. These allegations were part of his remarks and were not independently established in the report.
The rape-murder case and related matters are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI’s investigation includes the circumstances surrounding the crime and subsequent developments at the hospital. The question of whether repairs adjoining the seminar room affected the preservation or interpretation of evidence remains linked to the investigation and any findings by the competent authorities.
Adhikari said the state government would pursue justice within legal and constitutional limits. He concluded by promising action in the case, without announcing a specific deadline for the examination of the health secretary’s alleged role or a formal decision on replacement.
