Kolkata Sep 9 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday highlighted his government’s zero-tolerance approach to fighting crime, citing the suspension of three IPS officers for their alleged mishandling and dereliction of duty during the initial phase of the probe into the R G Kar rape-murder case.
At an event in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, he alleged that five days after the horrific rape and murder of a trainee medic at the institute on August 9, 2024, the then local TMC MLA “mobilised a mob that vandalised the crime scene on the instruction of the then chief minister”.
“The mob belonged to a particular community. We will bring the perpetrators to book,” he said.
“The BJP government has zero tolerance towards crime. Case in point is the suspension of three senior IPS officers soon after the party came to power for their alleged mishandling and dereliction of duty during the initial phase of the probe into the R G Kar case,” Adhikari said.
Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and ex-deputy commissioners Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta were suspended on May 15, days after the BJP took over the reins of the state.
Promising justice for the bereaved family, the chief minister also said, “The West Bengal Police has taken up a probe into the hurried cremation of the rape-murder victim’s body after lodging an FIR based on her father’s complaint. The Calcutta High Court has already ordered a CBI probe into it.”
He also said the allegation of irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment for the R G Kar Hospital during the previous TMC rule will also be probed.
Adhikari credited then R G Kar official Dr Akhhtar Ali with blowing off the lid over the “large-scale irregularities” in the purchase of medical equipment and construction and maintenance work at the hospital.
“The previous chief minister had instructed officials not to repair the damaged portion of the hospital building. But I am committed to an overhaul of the entire building, including restoration of the portion vandalised by the mob to destroy evidence,” he said.
Welcoming the delegates to the event in the state, Adhikari said this was the land of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the “original architect and creator of Bengal”, who was “instrumental” in carving out a homeland for Hindus by stopping this region’s merger with Pakistan during Partition.
Flaying the Left-leaning students’ union in Jadavpur University, which has been on the boil since August, following a clash with RSS-affiliated ABVP, the chief minister said, “They chant ‘Kashmir maange azadi’. But Syama Prasad Mookerjee gained the aazadi (freedom) for the country through his sacrifice and valour.”
He said the BJP government would ensure cashless treatment for all people in the state through the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat and the state’s CM Health Scheme.
“Till 2024, three states — Delhi, Odisha and West Bengal — did not implement Ayushman Bharat. They all did gradually after ‘rashtravadi’ (nationalist) governments were instituted,” he said. The BJP came to power in Odisha by replacing BJD in 2024, in Delhi by defeating the AAP in 2025 and in West Bengal by dislodging the 15-year-old TMC regime earlier this year.
Adhikari said fully fledged hospitals will be set up at Kalimpong, Balurgat, Alipurduar, Paschim Bardhaman, where existing ESI hospitals will be converted into medical colleges.
Listing the initiatives of the BJP governments at the Centre and state, he said Bengali Hindu migrants and Scheduled Caste community members were given certificates to resolve their citizenship issues. “Infiltrators aided by the TMC in the past have been shown their way out.” PTI SUS NSDa
