A day after the Calcutta High Court ordered the West Bengal government to hand over the investigation of the alleged rape and murder case of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the CBI, the investigation team of the central agency arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning.
The CBI has sent a specialised medical and forensic team from Delhi to Kolkata.
The HC had instructed the state to provide all information and documents besides the CCTV footage they had gathered to the CBI. The Court had also expressed its dissatisfaction over the role of the police in the investigation so far.
#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | CBI team from Delhi reaches Officers' Institute for BSF-South Bengal Frontier at New Town Rajarhat in Kolkata, West Bengal.
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2024
Following Calcutta High Court order, the CBI has taken over the case and has sent a… pic.twitter.com/DkdMvXXlVq
Meanwhile, the doctors' strike continued to hit the OPD services in government hospitals in several states across the country. Though the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) has called off its strike after the Union health minister accepted their demands, the medics at the central government-run AIIMS, the Indira Gandhi Hospital and other resident doctors' associations, including the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), decided to continue their stir until a central law to curb attacks on medical personnel is implemented.
The FORDA representatives had met Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residence on Tuesday night after which the decision was taken. "A key outcome of the meeting was the health minister's agreement to form a committee with FORDA's involvement to work on the Central Protection Act. The ministry has assured that work on this will begin within the next 15 days," FORDA said in a statement released late Tuesday night.
"The committee will focus on the timely implementation of the Act, aimed at ensuring a safer working environment for healthcare workers. Meetings for this initiative are set to commence within the next two weeks, with FORDA forming a delegation to participate," the statement said.
The government has also said that no police action would be taken against doctors involved in the strike, either in Kolkata or across the nation.
Though the resident doctors across the country are expected to resume their duties immediately, the other doctors' outfits are not willing to relent.
Dr Ragunandan Dixit, General Secretary of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Resident Doctors' Association said, "It was unanimously decided that AIIMS resident doctors, including foreign nationals, sponsored candidates, fellows, and undergraduates, would continue their indefinite strike until a written assurance is provided for the implementation of the Central Protection Act, suspension of the former Principal pending inquiry, and the fulfilment of other demands."
FAIMA and the Resident Doctors' Association of the Indira Gandhi Hospital too said that the strike would continue and the OPDs, OTs, and wards would be shut.
