Kolkata rape murder case: No mention of gang rape in CBI note, accused to be kept in solitary confinement
Times of India | 24 August 2024
KOLKATA: CBI's remand note to a trial court Friday seeking judicial custody of police volunteer Sanjay Roy, the lone suspect to be arrested in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case, makes no mention of "gang rape" or the possible involvement of more than one person in the Aug 9 crime.
The parents of the victim, a doctor studying for her postgraduation, have alleged their daughter was gang-raped before being murdered, and multiple people may have been responsible for the crime.The couple's petition in Calcutta HC seeking a "court-monitored probe" cites their suspicion.
The trial court remanded Kolkata traffic police volunteer Sanjay Roy in judicial custody till Sept 6. He was taken to Presidency jail, where he will remain in solitary confinement under 24x7 manual and CCTV surveillance, officials said.
CBI's FIR in the case, submitted to the trial court, invokes sections 64 (jail term of 10 years to life for rape) and 103(1) (life term or death for murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The agency can add or remove penal sections based on how the probe progresses.
The central agency, which took over the investigation from Kolkata Police on Aug 13, has already submitted a status report to Supreme Court. It is scheduled to file an updated report on Sept 5.
Roy was brought to the Sealdah court Friday amid tight security. The entrance to the premises, adjacent to the busy road leading to Sealdah railway station, was cordoned off. A team of 80-odd cops stood guard. The entry from the station side was sealed. Litigants were allowed entry through a gate near the Sealdah flyover after checks at multiple points.
More than a dozen CBI officers accompanied Roy, who was made to wait in the court lock-up during the proceedings. Additional chief judicial magistrate Subhajit Rakshit asked the lawyers to meet him in his chamber.
As the CBI team proceeded to the hearing with sheaves of documents, including consent for the polygraph test on Roy, a crowd of lawyers stood outside eager for an update.
Protesters milled outside the court premises, braving a shower. They stayed put for nearly four hours till Roy was whisked away.
Kabita Sarkar, the West Bengal Legal Aid Authority's standing counsel in the Sealdah magisterial court, is representing Roy along with Bandyopadhyay, who is the chief of Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (South 24 Parganas).