'PG Surgery student Dr Avik De absent since August 8': SSKM Hospital Dean informs Bengal health department

Kolkata: Dr Avik De, the one who was suspended by the West Bengal Medical Council and is under CBI investigation over his alleged presence in the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where the body of the postgraduate trainee was discovered on August 9 has been found of neglecting his duties at SSKM Hospital by remaining absent since August 8.

The dean of students' affairs, Prof (Dr) Avijit Hazra at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) and SSKM Hospital pointed out how Avik Dey operated on his own whims even after enrolling for post-graduation in surgery there. He highlighted how De neither completed the process of registration which is a part of the enrolment nor submitted the synopsis for the thesis subject as a postgraduate trainee.

In the letter addressed to the director of medical education (DME) and director of health services (DHS) at Swasthya Bhawan, state health department headquarters at Salt Lake, Dr Hazra mentioned the behavioural irregularities of Dey and also mentioned that he had been absent from duty at S.S.K.M. since August 8. 

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Dr Avik de is a first-year postgraduate trainee of the surgery department at Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata who was earlier referred to as a Finger Print Expert by the Kolkata police when a photo of his presence at the seminar room on the third floor of the Emergency Building of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 went viral where the body of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered was found. 

He is said to be close to Sandip Ghosh, the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar, now in jail in the case. He is also accused of being part of the 'North Bengal Lobby' that manipulated appointments in government hospitals and threatened students and faculty members who spoke against them.

Citing various points of irregularities as a PG student, Hazra stated in the letter, “I bring this matter to your notice. I would also like to inform you that Dr Avik De, though he has taken admission in our institute on 20 February, has till date. 1. No completed registration formalities, as MS General Surgery Trainee, with the West Bengal University of Health Sciences. 2. Has not submitted a synopsis for thesis till date. 3. Has not registered in the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) mandated by the National Medical Commission, which has to be complied with by all faculty and residents. Therefore, his AEBAS attendance, till date, is zero. 4. Not collected PGT Identity Card from the Dean office."

As per The Statesman news report, the letter further stated, “We have not faced a similar situation earlier. Kindly, guide us regarding our course of action in this regard.”

After the letter was submitted to the state health department, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the whereabouts of De. He was earlier the erstwhile resident medical officer (RMO) of the Radiodiagnosis Department of Burdwan Medical College & Hospital. He later enrolled for post-graduation in the surgery department at S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital in South Kolkata.

Dey and another now-suspended junior doctor, Birupaksha Biswas, the erstwhile senior resident doctor attached to the Pathology Department of Burdwan Medical College & Hospital, faced marathon questioning by the CBI officials at the agency’s Salt Lake office in the northern outskirts of Kolkata on September 21 and September 22.

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