RG Kar Medical College and Hospital former principal Sandip Ghosh reportedly took a cut of 20 per commission on each tender he awarded to the two vendors, according to reports.
The tenders were awarded flouting norms to the vendors Biplav Singha and Suman Hazra, who were arrested by the CBI along with Ghosh on Monday in connection with the alleged financial misconduct at the state-run institute during Ghosh's tenure as its principal.
Both Singha and Hazra laundered money for Ghosh, reported The Times of India quoting an unnamed CBI official.
The probe also focuses on how Singha's firm Maa Tara Traders managed to bag contracts for deals like supplying food packets, water coolers and purifiers, sound systems and microphones despite it being a lab equipment supplier.
The initial inquiry revealed that Ghosh flouted norms, including those that stipulate technical bids be opened first before financial bids. As per the law, the technical bids which detail the firm and its quality assurance and methodology be opened first before financial bids, including prices and project costs. Ghosh reversed the process, the report said.
Hazra's drug shop in Howrah's Mourigram is also under the radar as officials probe whether he resold medicines earmarked for the hospital to other sellers.
The CBI produced Ghosh before the court on Tuesday. The counsel for the CBI argued that Ghosh and the vendors were part of a "larger nexus" involving corruption. "There is a larger nexus, which has to be probed," CBI counsel Rambabu Kanojia stated. "The ambit of the offence is big," Kanojia said. "We need to collect further evidence. Moreover, there could be some other offence that may surface during investigation."
The court sent Ghosh to 8-day custody.
Ghosh slapped inside court premises
Ghosh faced public ire on arrival at the Alipore court. He was met with
"Dhik-dhik dhikkar (Shame! Shame!)" and "chor chor" chants by demonstrators who thronged the court premises. The CBI team quickly escorted Ghosh and the others into the courtroom, shutting the main entrance to prevent protesters from storming in.
However, inside the courtroom, a group of women lawyers verbally abused Ghosh and one delivered a sharp slap to his face.