Gujarat police to probe hospital's ?role' in rape case

A team of Gujarat police and the director of the forensic science laboratory are expected to leave for New Delhi to investigate the "suspicious role" of Apollo Millennium Hospital authorities in treating Sajal Jain, the Delhi-based businessman and prime accused in an alleged gang rape of a city girl who later committed suicide.

Jain, who was arrested last evening in Delhi, was admitted to Apollo's incentive care unit for six days for reported food poisoning after the incident, but the hospital authorities did not register a medico legal case (MLC) and also gave a sudden clean chit to his health when a team of Gujarat police and doctors went to check his status, additional commissioner of police Keshav Kumar said.

"The role of the hospital is suspicious and we will have to investigate that. We want to investigate as to why and on what grounds Sajal was given a `fit' certificate from the hospital when he was admitted for `some sort of poisoining' on January 9," Kumar, who has been heading the investigation and would head the team to Delhi, said.

After his arrest in Delhi yesterday, Jain was flown into the city amid heavy security.

Jain would be produced before a magistrate later today for police remand after being taken to the civil hospital for a check up, Kumar said.

The Gujarat police have already procured Jain's blood samples and would be conducting DNA finger printing and other tests to match it with samples found from the victim's body.

Kumar said that the alleged gang rape case would be investigated scientifically and that was the reason why the FSL team would accompany him so that the hospital authorities do not try and 'get away' on any medical grounds.

It is only after a series of fax messages sent by the Gujarat police that the hospital gave reasons for admitting Jain in the ICU, Kumar said.

"They were not co-operative when we sought Jain's blood samples also and the team of doctors from Ahmedabad was not allowed to collect samples themselves but had to take what was given by the hospital authorities. This will also be probed," Kumar said.

So far, the Gujarat police has arrested four persons, including three of Jain's family friends and the co-accused from the city while officials are still tight-lipped about the status of the fifth accused, who is from Ajmer.

The gang rape victim had hung herself to death at her home on January 9 "following lethargic investigation by the Gujarat police" and had said in her dying declaration that "Sajal and his four friends had gang raped her and should be held responsible and punished".