West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday suspended former Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal and two other Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta, on charges of mishandling the 2024 RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case and offering money to the deceased’s parents.
“After taking charge as home minister, I sought reports from the home secretary and the Kolkata police commissioner on what actions police initially took after the RG Kar incident. The fact-finding exercise pointed to mishandling of the case, lapses in lodging the FIR (First Information Report), and illegal monetary offers to the victim’s family,” Adhikari said at the state secretariat.
“We will check all phone call records and WhatsApp chats to find out if any minister or the chief minister gave any orders to these officers,” Adhikari said without naming former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was in charge of both the home and health departments.
“We are suspending Vineet Goyal, who is currently ADG (IB), and two other officers, Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta. Departmental proceedings will start against them under the chief secretary’s guidelines. Since they belong to the Union cadre, procedural action will be taken as per rules,” he added.
