Since the time the bruised body of a junior doctor was found in the seminar hall of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on the morning of August 9, Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the medical college who was in charge of the institute when the rape-murder was reported, became the most contentious figure in the horrific incident.

Now after his arrest on Monday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged role in a case related to financial irregularities at R.G Kar, political observers feel that more than his own past ‘mischiefs’, Ghosh became controversial for the blatant attempts made by the West Bengal government to shield him after the rape and murder of the junior doctor surfaced.

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A couple of days after the recovery of the body, Ghosh, who was facing criticism from different quarters, announced his resignation both as the principal of R.G Kar as well as from the state medical services.

However, the same day, instead of accepting his resignation from the state medical services, the Health Department through a notification announced Ghosh’s appointment as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (CNMCH), drawing flak from all corners.

The move opened floodgates of protests, both against Ghosh and the state government with the latter being accused of making a blatant attempt to shield Ghosh.

However, Ghosh could not take over as the principal of CNMCH as a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, while ordering a CBI probe into the RG Kar incident, also barred him from being appointed as the principal of any medical college in the state till further orders.

Trouble mounted for Ghosh after a former deputy superintendent of RG Kar, Akhtar Ali, approached the Calcutta High Court with a plea seeking a central agency probe into the financial ‘irregularities’ at the hospital when Ghosh was in charge of the state-run institute.

In his petition, Ali pointed out how his earlier appeals to different departments of the state government as a whistle-blower highlighting the financial irregularities were ignored by the administrative machinery.

In the meantime, the protesting representatives of the medical fraternity started raising their voices claiming that the junior doctor became a victim because she came to know too many ‘gory secrets’ of the R.G. Kar administration under Ghosh’s command.

Finally acting on that petition by Ali, the single- judge bench directed CBI to conduct a parallel probe in the financial irregularities along with the rape and murder case.

After being questioned for 16 days in a row, the CBI’s economic offences wing finally took Ghosh into custody in the financial irregularities case on Monday evening.