IMA cracks down on ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, suspends his membership

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday suspended the membership of Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Ghosh is accused of indulging in cover up in the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College. He is also accused of committing huge corruption, including taking commission for admission, and clearing procurements for the institute.

Former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Hospital, Akhtar Ali, recently made some sensational claims against Ghosh. He claimed that Ghosh was involved in selling of unclaimed bodies and trafficking biomedical waste.

"Sandip Ghosh used to do business with unclaimed dead bodies. A case was also registered against him. He was also involved in trafficking biomedical waste. He used to sell it to the people who were part of his additional security. It was then sent to Bangladesh," the former deputy superintendent said in an interview with India Today.

In a petition filed before the High Court, Ali accused Ghosh of illegal sale of unclaimed corpses, trafficking of biomedical waste and passing tenders against the commission paid by medicine and medical equipment suppliers. He also alleged that students were pressured to pay amounts ranging between Rs 5 and 8 lakh to pass exams.

Ghosh served as principal of RG Kar Hospital from February 2021 to September 2023. He was transferred from the medical establishment in October that year but inexplicably returned to that position within a month. He held his position at the hospital till the day the doctor was found murdered.

Ghosh was removed from his chair at RG Kar Hospital after the crime came to light and reinstated in the same position at the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours by the Mamata Banerjee government. He was later asked by the court to go on an indefinite leave.

On Sunday, the CBI conducted a day-long search operation at Ghosh’s Beliaghata residence in Kolkata in connection with the corruption cases. Ghosh has also been examined by the agency for 10 days at a stretch and it conducted a polygraph test on him.