Tried to be as transparent as possible in our probe: Kolkata CP Vineet Goyal on medic's rape-murder
Kolkata (PTI): Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal on Friday asserted that the force was not trying to shield anyone and it tried to be as transparent as possible in the probe into the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at a state-run hospital here.
Addressing a press conference, Goyal also admitted that despite “sufficient security presence”, the police did not expect the protesting crowd to turn violent outside RG Kar Hospital premises in the early hours of August 15, and were initially caught off-guard when a deputy commissioner-ranked officer got injured.
The CP said that Kolkata Police has handed over all evidence, including videographed post-mortem to the CBI, which is investigating the case upon orders of the Calcutta High Court.
“We are not shielding anyone, and police tried to be as transparent as possible in our probe. We have handed over all evidence related to the case to the CBI. Have faith in the central probe agency,” he said.
Goyal also said initially registering an unnatural death case did not mean police wanted to “label the crime as suicide”.
“That’s a standard practice followed by all investigation agencies in the country. We went by the book. There was no attempt to call the crime a ‘suicide’ as being erroneously reported from certain quarters. The police never called it a ‘suicide’,” he said.
On the vandalism at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday, Goyal said it is difficult to control leaderless and spontaneous protests.
“We didn't expect the crowd before RG Kar hospital to turn violent,” the top police officer said.
Goyal stated that 25 people have been arrested so far in connection with the ransacking of the hospital, some of whom were picked up based on feedback from netizens, who responded with information on the basis of social media appeals of the Kolkata Police. He asserted that the vandals couldn’t reach the scene of crime, the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the building that housed the emergency department, where the body of the murdered medic was found.
The emergency ward, nursing station, medicine store and parts of the outpatient department of the hospital were vandalised by miscreants on Thursday amid midnight protests by women across West Bengal, condemning the alleged rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee in the hospital's seminar hall on August 9.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
