Kolkata Doctor Rape Case: How a Bluetooth Earphone Led to the Arrest of Civic Volunteer Sanjay Roy
The accused, identified as Sanjay Roy, is an outsider who had easy access to several departments of the hospital due to his role as a civic volunteer in the police welfare board. Sources said that Roy was arrested after his activities were found to be quite suspicious. Sources indicate that Roy had a history of inappropriate behaviour with women within the hospital.
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Kolkata Doctor Rape Case: How a Bluetooth Earphone Led to the Arrest of Civic Volunteer Sanjay Roy
Kolkata Police have arrested civic volunteer Sanjay Roy in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a second-year postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital. The arrest took place on Saturday, just hours after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case. The SIT detained Roy, 33, for questioning and subsequently charged him based on compelling evidence. CCTV footage showed Roy entering the emergency building at 4 am with a Bluetooth device around his neck. The earphone was missing when he left the building 40 minutes later. The device was later paired with Roy's cellphone. The postmortem report confirmed that the 31-year-old doctor had been sexually assaulted.
Thanks to a torn Bluetooth earphone set, Kolkata police have identified and arrested a suspect in the sexual assault and murder of a woman postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The accused, identified as Sanjay Roy, is an outsider who had easy access to several departments of the hospital due to his role as a civic volunteer in the police welfare board. Sources said that Roy was arrested after his activities were found to be quite suspicious. Sources indicate that Roy had a history of inappropriate behaviour with women within the hospital.
Crucial clue On CCTV
Sources told News18 that the accused’s earphones were a crucial clue that led to his arrest. CCTV footage showed Roy wearing the Bluetooth earphones while entering the hospital, but it was missing when he left. Police recovered the torn part of the earphone and were able to connect it to the suspect, helping them crack the case. Other postgraduate trainees and female doctors also identified Roy from CCTV footage captured in various parts of the hospital .
The semi-nude body of the woman PGT doctor, a second-year student in the chest medicine department, was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital on Friday. She was on duty on Thursday night, and her body bore multiple injury marks. The preliminary autopsy report indicated sexual abuse before her murder, leading her father to allege that she was raped and murdered inside the hospital.
How Sanjay Roy Was Caught?
After the body was recovered, police set up a command center in a hall at the college, equipped with 15 laptops to analyse CCTV footage hour by hour. Initial findings suggested the crime occurred between 4 am and 6 am, four hours after the victim had dinner. While examining the CCTV, officers noted Roy’s entry around 4 am, and upon reviewing the footage frame by frame, they observed that he exited the hospital without his earphones.
Police also questioned doctors and nurses on-site, gathering testimonies to establish Roy’s presence. Evidence collected included a broken Bluetooth earphone found at the crime scene. During interrogation, Roy exhibited signs of distress and later confessed to the crime. Additionally, police found pornographic content on his mobile phone, raising further concerns about his character.
In light of the RG Kar incident, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal issued a special advisory emphasizing the need for enhanced safety measures for women in government hospitals. The advisory calls for identifying crime-prone zones, increasing police presence, and installing CCTV cameras with the help of private entities. It also stresses the importance of involving more female officers to address safety concerns effectively.
The incident has sparked outrage among the medical community, with junior doctors and medical staff across hospitals in West Bengal staging protests demanding better security and accountability for the accused. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has vowed to seek the death penalty for Roy and has called for the case to be tried in a fast-track court.
How the Main Accused, Sanjay Roy, Was Caught
Sanjay Roy, who had joined the police force in 2019, was frequently assigned to RG Kar Hospital's police outpost, giving him access to various departments. The key piece of evidence that linked him to the crime was a torn Bluetooth earphone found in the seminar room where the doctor's body was discovered. CCTV footage played a crucial role in the investigation, as it showed Roy entering the emergency building at 4 am with a Bluetooth device around his neck. When he exited the building 40 minutes later, the earphone was missing, raising suspicion.
Police Action and Court Proceedings
Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal stated, "We collected evidence throughout the night and arrested the accused due to his strong complicity in the case based on items collected from the spot and CCTV footage." Following his arrest, Roy was produced in Sealdah court, where no lawyer agreed to represent him. The court has remanded him to 14 days of police custody. The public prosecutor drew parallels between this case and the 2012 Nirbhaya case, highlighting the severity of the crime.
How Sanjay Roy Committed the Crime
Investigations revealed that the doctor was asleep in the seminar room when Roy attacked her. On the night of the incident, the doctor and her colleagues had ordered food and watched the Olympics before the others left, leaving her alone in the room. The investigation found that Roy had entered the RG Kar premises around 11 pm, already intoxicated, left to drink more, and returned around 4 am. During questioning, Roy confessed to the crime, admitting that he throttled the doctor during her struggle.
Protests and Public Outrage
As the investigation unfolded and Roy's confession became public, protests intensified, with people demanding justice for the victim and stricter measures to ensure the safety of women. The case has sparked widespread outrage, drawing comparisons to previous high-profile rape cases in India.
