Take back medals of Kolkata Police Commissioner: Bengal LoP to President

Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, requesting her to withdraw or forfeit two gallantry medals awarded to Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal in view of the lapses in the initial probe into the rape and murder of a woman doctor of R.G Kar Medical College & Hospital.

“I have also written to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting him to intervene in this regard," Adhikari said. Copies of both letters are available with IANS.

According to Adhikari, in the letters he had pointed out that Goyal’s complicity in the destruction of material evidence and deliberate inaction during the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 14 night was well documented in the media.

“His brazen attempts to sabotage the investigations into what is possibly the most heinous and sensitive crime in the country today to pander to the whims of the political executive of the state, with an intent to camouflage the financial and moral racket running in the health sector in West Bengal, makes him unworthy of retaining such awards like President’s Police Medal and Police Medal,” Adhikari added.

According to Adhikari, the actions on the part of the Police Commissioner have tarnished the reputation of the Kolkata Police built assiduously over 168 years and brought shame to West Bengal Police.

“His activities carried out with the intention of shielding certain influential individuals have further aggravated the already precarious law and order situation in West Bengal. He has brought great shame to the state and the nation and the state is on the boil with the civil society perceiving him as embodiment of all that is wrong in West Bengal,” he added.

On Wednesday, Bengal BJP MP Jyotirmay Singh Mahato urged the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNA) in Hyderabad to include the Kolkata Police’s handling of the RG Kar case in its curriculum to highlight how a case should not be approached.

“Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal’s failure not to act decisively, coupled with his apparent disregard for the values of transparency and accountability, has significantly tarnished the image of the Kolkata Police and has undermined public trust,” two-time BJP Lok Sabha Jyotirmay Singh Mahato wrote to the Director of SVPNA.

The probe into the woman doctor's rape and murder case was initially handled by the Kolkata Police under Vineet Kumar Goyal. Later the case was transferred to the CBI on High Court's order.

The body of the doctor was found in suspicious circumstances in the R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9. One person, a civic volunteer, was arrested in the case. The CBI has also arrested former principal, Sandip Ghosh in alleged financial irregularities at R.G.Kar.