The accused in the rape and murder case of a 31-year-old junior doctor in Kolkata had gone to two brothels in the city the night he committed the crime, the Kolkata Police have said.

Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, went to the red light area Sonagachi on August 8 night, police sources said. There, he drank alcohol and visited two brothels one after another, sources said.

He then went to the hospital after midnight. He was arrested based on CCTV footage in which he was seen entering and leaving the seminar hall, where the junior doctor had gone to sleep.

The case has sparked protests across the country. The protests have been especially intense in Kolkata.

A Special Investigation Team has also been formed by the West Bengal government to probe alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of its former principal Sandip Ghosh.

Chanting ‘Justice for RG Kar’ and ‘Justice for our sister’, hundreds of IT professionals took to the streets of Sector V in Salt Lake, the city’s IT hub.

For the second day in a row, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has taken over the case questioned Anup Dutta, an assistant sub-inspector and member of the city police welfare board. Mr Dutta’s proximity to Sanjoy Roy is suspected to have led CBI officers to understand how Sanjoy Roy could have had free access to police barracks where he stayed, and within an institution like RG Kar Hospital where he could move around freely at all times of the day.

The CBI has reportedly accessed multiple photographs showing Dutta and Roy together, prompting them to dig out further details on the arrested man from the officer. Dutta, however, was seen sprinting towards the CBI office to avoid reporters when they asked him how long he knew the accused for.

The four-member state SIT spoke to former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College, Dr Akhtar Ali, the whistleblower and first complainant against financial irregularities against Sandip Ghosh, at the premises of Swasthya Bhawan, the state health department headquarters.

India and Japan have agreed to enhance their defence-industrial collaboration, particularly focusing on the ‘Unicorn’ stealth antenna system for warships. They also aim to improve military interoperability through joint exercises and cooperation in space and cyber domains. The partnership is seen as crucial for maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.