Kolkata case: RG Kar ex-principal Sandip Ghosh's farmhouse on ED radar
Times of India | 7 September 2024
Ghosh’s farmouse in Canning’s Narayanpur village that was raided by ED on Friday KOLKATA: Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at 11 places, including the Beliaghata residence and Canning farmhouse of former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh and homes of his relatives and associates, in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the hospital during his tenure. The central agency also detained Prasun Chatterjee, a data entry operator at Chittaranjan National Medical College and an aide of the former principal.
When agency officials reached Ghosh’s Beliaghata residence at 6.40am, the main gate was locked from outside. The officials could enter the house after three hours when Ghosh’s wife, Sangita, reached there with the keys from their Chinar Park flat a little over 12km away.
While the search was still on, Sangita — face covered in mask and oversize shades and a pallu over her head — emerged from the house and told reporters that whatever was being said about her husband was not true. “We have cooperated with each of the investigating agencies. They could not find any document. They will never find any documents. Truth will surface soon. Don’t turn someone into a villain before anything is proven in court,” she said.
A second team of ED officials reached Ghosh’s in-law’s residence at Chandernagore’s Padri Para in the morning but the house was locked.
A team of ED officials reached the apartment of Sandip Ghosh’s sister-in-law, a healthcare worker at Maniktala ESI hospital, near Airport Gate 1 around 11.30 am and emerged several hours later with a black trolley bag. Ghosh’s in-laws have recently moved into this housing estate.
Yet another set of officials reached the house of Prasun Chatterjee — CNMC data entry operator spotted in the viral RG Kar seminar room video — in Subhasgram. Around 2 pm, Chatterjee was detained and taken to Ghosh’s farmhouse, SangeetaSandip Villa, in Canning’s Narayanpur mouza. Spread over two bighas, the property with a two-storey villa was frequented by Ghosh and his family. Chatterjee also had a set of keys to the farmhouse, sources said. Eight ED officers searched it for over three hours.
Local gram panchayat members claimed they had no information on who owned the plot. “This house was constructed around three years ago. We are finding out if it was owned by Ghosh alone,” said Narayanpur gram panchayat pradhan Salauddin Sardar. ED also searched the houses of Kunal Roy in Baidyabati and Biplab Singha and Kaushik Koley in Howrah. Singha, already in CBI custody, is a medical equipment supplier and Koley worked as an accountant in his firm.