The Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations of financial irregularities at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital between 2021 and till date. The panel formation comes amid countrywide protests against the gruesome rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at the reputed state-run hospital on August 9.

According to an official statement, the SIT will be headed by Pranav Kumar, Inspector General of Police.

Waquar Reza, DIG of Murshidabad Range, Soma Das Mitra, DIG of CID, and Indira Mukherjee, DCP of Kolkata Police will be part of the SIT.

The panel has been tasked to submit its first report to the Bengal government within a month.

The allegations of financial misconduct were raised against Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, who has been at the centre of the investigation due to his handling of the case. He was grilled for several hours for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Ghosh was asked to specify his role after getting the news of the death of the doctor, who he had contacted thereafter and why he made the parents wait for almost three hours before they could see their daughter’s body. The former principal was also questioned about who had ordered renovation of the rooms adjacent to the seminar hall – where the postgraduate trainee’s body was found in semi-naked condition on August 9.

Meanwhile, Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, who was arrested in connection with the case, will undergo a polygraph test, sources told India Today. A local court on Monday granted CBI permission to conduct the test.

The Supreme Court will today hear the rape and murder case of the woman trainee doctor. A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the matter.