Bengal female doctor murder case: Accused enjoyed privileges of regular cop

After a man was arrested in the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital here, questions are surfacing on how the accused, as a mere civic volunteer, enjoyed certain privileges and freedom of movement like the regular policemen.

The first irregularity is that, as the preliminary investigation has revealed, the accused Sanjay Ray used to reside at a police barrack at Ultadanga in North Kolkata, which is meant for regular cops in the permanent payroll, sources have said.

Questions are now being raised on why this gross irregularity could remain unnoticed by the senior officials of the state police or why any regular resident of the barrack did not bring the matter to the notice of the higher authorities.

Secondly, from his mobile phone, the investigating officials have tracked the personal numbers of some lower-ranking police officers and staff.

The sources have said the investigating officials doubt that the accused civic volunteer was in regular touch with those whose numbers have been recovered from his mobile phone.

The investigation officials have prepared a list of regular staff in the city police with whom the accused civic volunteer was reportedly close, and, if necessary they will also be questioned.

Another piece of information that the investigating officials have gathered is that despite being a civic volunteer, which is nothing but a contractual post, Ray often used to identify himself as an assistant sub-inspector of police attached to the armed police division of the state police.

Apart from that, said city police insiders, there were prior complaints of the accused being in an intoxicated state while on duty as a result of which he had often misbehaved with his fellow civic volunteers.

As per the preliminary report, even on the night of Friday when the woman doctor, who was a house staff and a postgraduate student at the R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, was attacked at the seminar hall, the accused, was in a highly intoxicated state.