As ED raids Sandip Ghosh’s home, scrutiny on ‘farmhouse’

The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, conducted searches at several locations in Kolkata and Howrah on Friday.

Former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital Dr Sandip Ghosh. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

The ED on Friday conducted searches at several locations in Kolkata and Howrah, including the house of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital’s former principal Sandip Ghosh, as part of its probe into alleged financial irregularities at the institute. The institute has been under scanner since the rape and murder of a junior doctor there last month.

Senior ED officials said that during searches, they uncovered evidence of Ghosh allegedly owning a farmhouse. Officials said they are probing an alleged “criminal nexus” between Ghosh and certain “unscrupulous contractors”. The possibility of bribes being paid for the award of contracts is under investigation, officials said.

It is learnt that one of the contractors whose premises was searched on Friday has been arrested by the CBI. The pattern of several contractors getting assigned jobs for which they were unlicensed and thus ineligible was uncovered during a departmental inquiry by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, it is learnt. Earlier, the ED had recorded the statement of Akthar Ali, former Deputy Superintendent of R G Kar Hospital, in their Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) case, following which the names of some “favored” contractors came to light, sources said.

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The ED is also understood to have obtained bank statements of several accounts linked to Ghosh and other hospital managers, which are under scrutiny.

The ED team arrived at Ghosh’s Beleghata residence at around 6.30 am on Friday but could not enter as the door was locked from outside. The officials went back and returned later, entering his house at 9.15 am.

Ghosh is already under arrest in an alleged corruption case filed by the CBI. Following his arrest, Ghosh was suspended by the state health department.

On Friday, ED officials accompanied by personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces also conducted searches at the houses of three other people — Biplab Singha, Prasoon Chattopadhyay and Kaushik Koley.

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Singha is associated with a medical equipment supply business and is a hospital vendor. Earlier this week, he was arrested alongside Ghosh, and on Friday, his house in Howrah was among the locations where the ED conducted searches.

Chattopadhyay works as a data entry operator at the National Medical College and is known as Ghosh’s close aide. The ED conducted searches at his house in Subhasgram as well as at Koley’s residence in Howrah.

Sweety Kumari

Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics. With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences. Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

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