Several posts have gone viral on social media falsely claiming that the accused in the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is from Bihar. BOOM reached out to the Kolkata Police via email, who stated that the accused was born and brought up in West Bengal.
Sanjay Roy (33), a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested on August 9, 2024, as the prime suspect in the rape and murder of a junior doctor. A torn earphone found in the seminar room on the third floor of the emergency building, where the doctor's body was discovered, led to his identification reported The Times of India. CCTV footage reportedly showed Roy entering the emergency building at 4 a.m. wearing a Bluetooth device around his neck, and leaving the building without it.
BOOM's Decode has reported on misinformation around the case and visited the deceased doctor's family on the outskirts of Kolkata who clarified several rumours which have been floating around on social media platforms.
The photo of the rape accused and the victim is being shared on X with the caption, "The R@Pist Name : Sanjay Rai. From: Bihar #Bihar #KolkataDoctor". Click here for an archive of the tweet.
BOOM also received the same claim on our WhatsApp helpline number (7700906588).
FACT-CHECK
BOOM reached out to Kolkata Police who confirmed that the accused Sanjay Roy was born and brought up in West Bengal.
We checked news reports on Roy's background and did not find any information about him moving to West Bengal from Bihar recently. The Telegraph reported that Roy had completed his plus-II from a school in Bhowanipore in Kolkata, West Bengal and had joined Kolkata Police as a civic volunteer in 2019. Later, he was transferred to the Police Welfare Cell before being assigned to the police outpost at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
We also found a report in the Bangla Daily Ei Samay which reported that Roy used to live with his mother at Shambhunath Pandit Street next to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata and claimed that they have an ancestral house in Bihar. ABP Ananda reported that Roy used to live as a tenant at Shambhunath Pandit Street.
The Ei Samay report is being shared in some posts to claim that Roy is from Bihar; however, the report does not mention where he was born or state that he was brought up in the neighboring state.
BOOM then reached out to the Kolkata Police, who confirmed via email that Roy was born and raised in West Bengal.
In an email response to BOOM, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Murli Dhar stated, "As per the information available with Kolkata Police, the arrested accused person was born and brought up in West Bengal."
