Banga Ratna awardee teacher decides to return award over Mamata govt handling of RG Kar doctor murder-rape case

Aug 25, 2024

Alipurduar (West Bengal) [India], August 25 : Parimal Dey, a teacher from Alipurduar in West Bengal, who was honoured with the Banga Ratna award by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2019, has decided to return the award over the state government's response to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident.
Speaking about his decision to ANI, Parimal said, "I have decided to return the Banga Ratna award. The way protests happened in Bengal and outside, it is my conscience's call that it should give it back. I support the protest. The way she (Mamata Banerjee) is running the administration is not right."
Earlier today, the West Bengal Motion Picture Artists' Forum staged a protest in Tollygunge demanding justice for the victim in the RG Kar Medical College rape-murder incident and urging the Kolkata administration to take responsibility.
The anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches on Sunday at multiple locations connected to former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh and his relatives in West Bengal's Kolkata.
On Saturday, the CBI filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Dr Sandip Ghosh based on directives from the Calcutta High Court. The investigation was initiated after a single bench of the High Court ordered the CBI to probe the alleged corruption at the medical college.
The Calcutta High Court has granted the CBI three weeks to submit a progress report on the investigation, which is to be presented on September 17.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered the security of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to be handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) while hearing the suo motu case concerning the rape and murder of the trainee doctor.
The trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.