Photo doesn't show RG Kar rape and murder accused with hospital's ex-principal

What's the claim?

A viral photo circulating on social media depicts a person cutting a cake beside Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Ghosh faces allegations of attempting to cover up the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the college. 

Following the incident, Ghosh resigned from his position on August 12. The photo is being shared with claims that the person cutting the cake is Sanjay Roy, the accused in the rape and murder case.

Several users on X (formerly Twitter) have captioned the image with statements such as "rape accused Sanjay Roy celebrating his birthday in the office of ex-principal Sandip Ghosh." Archived versions of these posts can be found here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral X posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Media coverage of this photo has varied. Calcutta Television Network headlined its article, "Sanjay's Cake Cutting Celebration in Sandeep's Cabin! The Viral Photo Causes a Stir," noting that the photo's authenticity remains unverified. Republic World reported, "Unconfirmed Photo Shows Sanjoy Roy Offering Cake to Ex-RG Kar Principal Sandip Ghosh," while Times Now Bengali's headline read, "RG Kar Incident Viral Picture: Sanjay stands next to Sandeep and cuts the cake with a smile, there is uproar over the viral picture."

Screenshots of news reports on the viral image. (Source: Calcutta Television Network/ Republic World/Times Now Bengali/ Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the man in the photo is Prasun Chatterjee, an RG Kar Medical College employee and reportedly Ghosh's aide. He is not the accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case.

What did we find?

A reverse image search led to an Instagram post (archived here) from August 28, 2024, by the Calcutta National Medical College Resident Doctors' Association (CNMCRDA). The post includes eight slides, including an image of a man in a suit, a TV9 news segment with Bengali text translating to "Prasun Chatterjee at the seminar hall," and the viral photo. The post identifies the man as Prasun Chatterjee, a data entry operator at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMC&H).

The post also calls for a CBI investigation into Chatterjee's activities on August 9, 2024, and his association with Ghosh, alleging corruption.

Screenshots of the Instagram post by Calcutta National Medical College Resident Doctors' Association. (Source: Instagram)

Further investigation revealed Chatterjee's locked Facebook profile (archived here). The profile photo matches the man in the suit seen in CNMCRDA's Instagram post. His profile states that he works at both RG Kar Medical College and Calcutta National Medical College, studied at the University of Calcutta, and is based in Kolkata.

Screenshot of Prasun Chatterjee's Facebook profile. (Source: Facebook)

We also located a Facebook post by Prosenjit Dey (archived here) from January 3, 2020. This post features twelve photos of the same man celebrating his birthday, with attire and the setting matching those in the viral photo. The post is captioned: "Birthday celebration of Prasun Chatterjee at MSVP office, CNMCH," and tags Chatterjee's Facebook account.

Screenshot of a Facebook post by a user, Prosenjit Dey, on January 3, 2020. (Source: Facebook)

This evidence confirms that the man in the viral photo with Ghosh is Chatterjee, not Sanjay Roy, the accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case.

Logically Facts has contacted CNMCRDA and Facebook user Dey for comment. This fact-check will be updated if and when we receive a response.

Police issues clarification

On August 30, The Times of India reported that Kolkata Police confirmed the viral photo, which falsely claims to show Ghosh with Roy, is misleading. The police clarified that the image shows Ghosh's personal data operator, not Roy or any civic volunteer.

While Chatterjee's name has been mentioned in connection with the case, he has not been directly implicated in the crime.

TMC leaders denounce viral image as fake news

Nilanjan Das, Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary, clarified on X (archived here) that the photo does not show Roy. He wrote, "The truth is, the individual in the picture is Prasun Chatterjee, DEO, CNMCH, who was a part-time PA to Dr. Ghosh."

TMC MP Sagarika Ghose also addressed the issue on X (archived here), stating, "NO, that is NOT the prime accused cutting cake with the #RGKar principal. It's a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT person, Prasun Chatterjee, a data operator. STOP FAKE NEWS. Tell the truth."

The verdict

A photo from January 2020, featuring Prasun Chatterjee, an employee of RG Kar Hospital and Calcutta National Medical College, has been falsely circulated as showing Sanjay Roy, the RG Kar rape and murder suspect, cutting a cake alongside Sandip Ghosh, the college's former principal.