Kolkata, July 16 (IANS) The parents of the victim in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case on Wednesday expressed doubts at a trial court here that the on-going Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the matter might not be a neutral one considering a top official of the probe agency and a senior officer cop of the West Bengal Police department drawing controversy in the same case were of the same IPS batch.

The two IPS officers named by the counsel of the victim’s parents at the trial court on Wednesday were the CBI’s additional director, Sampat Meena, who was in overall charge of the investigation of the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August last year.

The cop from West Bengal named by the counsel of the victim’s parents in the matter is the former Kolkata Police Commissioner and the current additional director general of the special task force of West Bengal Police, Vineet Kumar Goyal.

To recall, Goyal was the city police chief when the ghastly crime took place in August last year, and the initial investigation into the matter by the special investigation also started under his leadership. However, following a massive public uproar, Goyal was removed from the chair of the city police chief soon after. Later, CBI also took over the investigation following an order from the Calcutta High Court.

Both Sampat Meena and Vineet Kumar Goyal were IPS officers of the 1994 batch.

On Wednesday, the counsel of the victim’s parents expressed apprehension at the trial court that since Meena and Goyal underwent the training together being IPS batch-mates, there were chances that CBI might hesitate in taking any action against Goyal, and hence there might not be an impartial trial in the matter.

However, the CBI counsel ruled out such apprehension and claimed that being someone’s batchmate could not be an offense for any of the two officers.

“CBI had not taken any action against Goyal since there had not been any evidence against him of being a part of the conspiracy in the crime,” the CBI counsel said in the counter-argument.

Already, the same trial court had sentenced civic volunteer Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment in January this year after identifying him as the sole convict in the crime of rape and murder. Currently, CBI is investigating the aspect of a larger conspiracy in the crime especially as regards tampering with and altering evidence while the initial investigation was being carried out by the city police.

–IANS

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