Mishandled probe, attempt to bribe, attitude problem — chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday levelled a series of allegations against three IPS officers while announcing their suspension for alleged lapses in handling the 2024 RG Kar rape and murder case.
This newspaper looks at the officers and the allegations against them.
Vineet Goyal
Batch: 1994
Then: Kolkata Police commissioner
Now: Director-general of police (Intelligence Bureau) with additional charge of the anti-corruption bureau
Allegation: Mishandling the case in its initial stages.
Suvendu said the case was “mishandled” at the very beginning, starting with the registration of the FIR.
During streets protests in 2024, Goyal had been accused of tampering with evidence and attempting a cover-up to protect influential people in the state administration.
Medical students had staged a siege of Lalbazar and presented Goyal with a model of a spine.
Other view: Despite the allegations, many credited Goyal as the police chief under whom Kolkata Police cracked the case within 24 hours and arrested the prime accused, who was later convicted.
“There were allegations of procedural lapses, which were debated in the Supreme Court. But none seemed to have a major impact on the investigation,” a senior bureaucrat familiar with the case said. “The CBI did not add anything in almost two years beyond what Kolkata Police found within four days.”
Abhishek Gupta
Batch: 2011
Then: Deputy commissioner (north), Kolkata Police
Now: Commandant, 2nd Battalion, Eastern Frontier Rifles, in the rank of deputy inspector-general of police
Allegation: Offering a bribe to the slain doctor’s family.
The doctor’s father had alleged that the deputy commissioner (north) of Kolkata Police had “offered money” to them moments after they returned home from the hospital on the day their daughter died. The family had also alleged that then chief minister Mamata Banerjee had spoken about money.
Gupta was also the officer under whose watch a group vandalised parts of RG Kar hospital close to the crime scene on August 14, 2024, while millions joined a midnight vigil protesting the crime.
Other view: Police sources said Gupta had informed the family about the state’s compensation policy for families of rape victims and had “never offered a bribe”.
Responding to the allegation in 2024, Mamata had said: “You must remember, a day before my visit (to the slain doctor’s home), the Residential Doctors’ Forum issued an official statement. The third point they raised was about adequate compensation to the victim’s family.”
At Mamata’s request, the then chief secretary had read out the statement by the doctors’ forum.
“Apart from that, there is a Supreme Court directive on helping such victims. But I still did not say it,” Mamata had said.
“What I told the parents, on record, was the same thing I later said outside. ‘That money can never compensate for death. You are heartbroken, and we are heartbroken too. But if you ever wish to do something good in your daughter’s memory, let me know. Our government stands with you.’ Nothing else,” Mamata said.
“People talking about compensation should know we can give ₹10 lakh to the family. But I must make it clear that her mother said, ‘First let there be justice for our daughter, then we will talk about this’,” she added.
Indira Mukherjee
Batch: 2013
Indira Mukherjee
Then: Deputy commissioner (central), Kolkata Police
Now: Special superintendent of police, CID
Allegation: Briefing the media despite having no jurisdiction and displaying a “wrong attitude” before journalists.
Mukherjee was the main speaker at a news conference where police presented a photograph to counter allegations that the crime scene and evidence had been tampered with. She had also denied the presence of people unrelated to the probe inside the seminar hall where the doctor’s body was found.
Other view: Police sources said that, under Lalbazar practice, law-and-order briefings are handled by the joint commissioner (headquarters), while crime-related briefings are handled by the joint commissioner (crime).
Given the sensitivity of the case, then police commissioner Goyal had addressed the first news conference with the additional commissioner (crime) beside him while announcing the arrest of Sanjay Roy.
Later, Mukherjee was assigned daily media briefings. As DC (central), she initially had no jurisdiction over the case until she became part of the SIT formed to investigate the crime.
Sources said Mukherjee, who had been on leave and out of station on the day of the incident, was verbally instructed to brief reporters on the investigation’s progress. “She was once performing a law-and-order duty when she was called back to Lalbazar just to brief reporters,” a Lalbazar source said.
A retired police officer said refusal to follow orders from a superior amounts to insubordination in the police force.