A special court on Sunday granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a three-day custody of Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, the former station house officer of Tala Police Station. They were arrested in connection with the horrific rape and murder of a junior doctor last month. The court agreed with the CBI counsel that although Mondal was not directly involved in the case, he is accused of tampering with evidence and impeding the initial investigation when it was under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police.

The Calcutta High Court later transferred the case to the CBI. On Sunday, the CBI counsel revealed that investigators found crucial leads regarding a phone call between Ghosh and Mondal on the morning of August 9, coinciding with the discovery of the junior doctor’s body in the seminar hall of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.

The counsel insisted on the necessity of an in-depth probe into the conversation between Ghosh and Mondal that morning, warranting their custody for further interrogation. The CBI counsel also pointed out instances of negligent investigation by Kolkata Police during the early stages of the inquiry, noting that the police initially misinformed the victim’s parents, labeling the death as a suicide, and were slow to seize items as evidence.

Ultimately, the judge concurred with the CBI counsel and ordered a three-day CBI remand for Ghosh and Mondal. Mondal was detained by the CBI on Saturday night after a seven-hour interrogation. Ghosh, previously arrested for financial misconduct at the institution, is in judicial custody and was also implicated in the rape and murder case.