ED likely to seek Sandip Ghosh’s custody in RG Kar financial irregularities case

Kolkata, Oct 14
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the multi-crore financial irregularities case in state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, is considering seeking the custody of Sandip Ghosh, the former and controversial principal of the hospital for interrogation.

At the same time, sources said the ED might also interrogate some of the close relatives of Ghosh, including his wife and in-laws in this connection.

Sources also said that the investigating officials have decided to cross-question Ghosh and his close relatives based on their assets highly disproportionate to their income.

At the same time, sources added, the ED officials also seek to extract information from them on their roles in certain shell companies which the investigating officials doubt to have played a crucial role in the diversion of ill-gotten funds in the financial irregularities case.

The bank accounts of Ghosh and some of his close relatives are already under the ED scanner and they have detected several doubtful transactions through those accounts hinting towards serious money-laundering, sources added.

At the same time, the investigating sleuths have got information about several properties registered in the names of Ghosh and his associates, the sources of funds for acquiring which are highly doubtful.

Both ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are conducting parallel probes in the financial irregularities case at R.G. Kar. While CBI’s probe in the matter is court-directed and court-monitored, ED has made a suo motu entry into the case after filing an enforcement case information report (ECIR).

So far five persons, including Ghosh, have been arrested by CBI in the financial irregularities, the other four being Ashish Pandey, Suman Hazra, Biplab Sinha and Afsar Ali.

Pandey was a Ghosh confidant house staff attached to R.G. Kar, who was recently expelled by the hospital authorities. While Ali is the personal bodyguard of Ghosh, Sinha and Hazra are vendors supplying medical equipment to R.G Kar when Ghosh was at the helm of affairs.

Ghosh is also being probed by CBI in connection with the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar within the hospital premises in August.