Kolkata: Jo ho gaya bhul jaiye, OC tells assaulted doctor

KOLKATA: After his release from Ruby General Hospital on Friday afternoon, Jadavpur OC Pulak Dutta drove straight to DCP (south) Meeraz Khalid’s Park Street office to “formally apologize” to CMRI resident doctor Srinivas Geddam, whom he had reportedly assaulted two days back. Shaking Geddam’s hands, Dutta said: “Jo ho gaya bhul jaiye”(Forget whatever has happened). Dutta’s “apology” earned him a reprieve from criminal prosecution but he still faces a departmental inquiry.

Geddam and CMRI’s chief medical director Shantanu Chatterjee were summoned to the DCP’s office around 2:30pm. Dutta took the release from the hospital to head there. “On being told that he could take the discharge either on Friday or on Saturday, he (Dutta) said he wanted to go home today itself. So, he was discharged in the afternoon.” said a source in Ruby hospital.



Geddam refused to respond to calls and Chatterjee remained unavailable.

At the DCP office, there was an attempt by both sides to open a dialogue, with Geddam expressing his wish to speak to Dutta directly. “We learnt from them that when Geddam sought for a probe timeline, he didn’t get any specific assurance. He was only told that a departmental inquiry will be conducted. Geddam was worried that an FIR could impact his studies. He, therefore, agreed to a departmental inquiry,” a source, who spoke to both, claimed.

Though joint CP (HQ) Supratim Sarkar told reporters that a probe was on, it is still not clear whether an off-duty officer could face such an inquiry. Senior criminal lawyer Sekhar Basu, however, felt there were grounds for an inquiry.

The medical fraternity, meanwhile, remained united in their demand for Dutta’s arrest. IMA state secretary Shantanu Sen said: “We appreciate the efforts of Kolkata Police to reach out to the doctor. We have learnt that they have tried to resolve the doctor’s apprehensions and conduct a thorough probe. We believe the role of doctor and police are interlinked. We extend our appreciation to the state home (police) minister and chief minister.”

West Bengal Doctor’s Forum secretary Kaushik Chaki was more upfront. “The joint platform of doctors will wait till Monday for the arrest of Pulak Dutta. It is not about a single case. It is about the entire medical community. We will hit the streets on Monday from CMRI to Alipore police station if our demands are not met. If we see no concrete action, we will be forced to go on stringent protests, like OPD closure.”