Abhaya case: Senior cop, R.G. Kar ex-principal get bail

The Sealdah court on Friday, 13 December, granted bail to senior police officer Abhijit Mondal and R.G. Kar hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in the rape and murder case of an on-duty doctor at the medical facility.

The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) granted bail to the two accused persons as the chargesheet against them was not filed within the mandatory 90-day period, a lawyer representing Ghosh said.

The court granted bail to Ghosh and Mondal on bail bonds of Rs 2,000 each and directed them to cooperate with the investigation.

While Mondal was accused of alleged delay in filing of FIR in the case, Ghosh was charged with tampering of evidence.

The post-graduate trainee was raped and murdered, and her body was found in the seminar room of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on 9 August.

Ghosh and Mondal were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the case on an order of the Calcutta High Court.

Mondal's lawyer told reporters outside the court that he will walk out of the correctional home where he is incarcerated on judicial remand.

Ghosh, who is on judicial remand in another case of alleged financial irregularities at R.G. Kar hospital, will, however, remain behind bars despite being granted bail in the rape-murder case.

Earlier in the day, they were produced before the court of ACJM Arijit Mondal under heavy police security.

During the hearing, lawyers for the two accused prayed before the judge that they be granted bail, as the CBI could not submit chargesheet against them within the statutory period of 90 days.

The CBI submitted that investigation in the case was in progress.

The central probe agency has, however, filed a chargesheet against the prime accused, Sanjay Roy, in the rape-murder case.

In the chargesheet filed before a special CBI court here, it said that Roy, who was working as a civic volunteer with the local police, allegedly committed the crime on 9 August when the medic had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar room during a break.