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The Central Bureau of Investigation has ruled out gangrape in the death of a Kolkata doctor last month as the available evidence indicates only Sanjay Roy - arrested by the police - was involved in the horrific rape and murder at the city's RG Kar Hospital, sources told NDTV Friday morning.
Sources said the inquiry is in its "final stages" and that the agency - given the case by the Kolkata High Court, which overruled Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in doing so - will soon file charges.
The CBI is under pressure from a Chief Minister who, in turn, is taking fire from political rivals and civil society activists over the gruesome crime. Last week she demanded an update. "I asked for five days' (for the police to probe before she called in the federal agency) but the case was sent to CBI. They don't want justice. They want delay. It has been 16 days, where is justice?" she asked in Kolkata.
READ | "Where Is Justice": Mamata's Question To CBI In Doctor Rape-Murder
Ms Banerjee's colleague, state Minister Bratya Basu, has also demanded a report.
"Twenty-three days have passed (since the case was transferred)... there is no progress report from CBI. We demand a detailed report of the investigation. When Kolkata Police was investigating regular updates were given through press conferences," he declared.
NDTV has been told the agency has sent a medical report - with DNA from the accused - to experts at the government-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
The agency will look to wrap up this inquiry after receiving doctors' final opinion on the material.
Sources also said the CBI - which has recorded over 100 statements and conducted 10 polygraph tests, including two of ex-hospital chief Dr Sandip Ghosh - has no reason to believe others were involved in raping and murdering the doctor, whose body was found in a hospital room early August 9.
The agency has made three arrests of its own, the biggest of which is Dr Ghosh, who quit days after the killing on "moral grounds" but was appointed to head another state-run hospital hours later.
He was arrested on Monday.
READ | Sandip Ghosh, Ex Principal Of RG Kar Hospital, Arrested
However, Dr Ghosh, who was grilled by the CBI over two weeks, was arrested over alleged financial irregularities during his time as chief of the RG Kar Hospital. That case was based on a petition by an ex-employee of the hospital - Deputy Superintendent Akhtar Ali.
READ | "Selling Of Bodies..." Claim Against Ex-RG Kar Hospital Head
He had accused Dr Ghosh of selling unclaimed corpses, trafficking in biomedical waste, and passing tenders against the commission paid by medicine and medical equipment suppliers.
Three others were arrested too, including a security guard.
Since his arrest Dr Ghosh has been suspended by the Bengal government and the state doctors' body. He had already been suspended by the Indian Medical Association.
This morning the CBI raided Dr Ghosh's house in Kolkata, again.
The CBI is expected to file a status report with the Calcutta High Court on September 17.
The RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case has made major headlines across the country and the world, and drawn furious protests from concerned medical professionals, gender and civil society activists, and, last but not least, from the opposition BJP and Congress in Bengal.
There have been multiple claims and allegations made, many without substance, alleging conspiracies that led to the doctor's death and claims of her being gangraped. There have also been accusations by her family that police tried to bribe them to cover up the killing, which the cops have firmly denied.
Her parents also said this week they had been forced to cremate the body despite wanting to preserve it. "About 300 cops surrounded us... they created such a situation..." her father said. The state has come down heavily against such claims, accusing the opposition of spreading rumours.
READ | 'Leave Parents Alone': Trinamool On 'Money Offer' To Doctor's Family
The killing has also triggered protests and dharnas across the country, many of which turned violent, including an incident in Kolkata on August 15, Independence Day, in which a mob stormed the campus and allegedly vandalised the seminar room where the body was found.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has taken suo moto cognisance of the horrid crime and a hearing is on before a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
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