RG Kar case: Former TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh arrested over alleged hurried cremation

Nirmal Ghosh, the former MLA from Panihati, was arrested on charges of destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy, and forcing someone to carry out an act against their will. PIC/X

Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Nirmal Ghosh was arrested in Odisha on Thursday over his alleged involvement in the "hurried cremation" of the doctor who was raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2024, police said.

Ghosh, the former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Panihati, was arrested on charges of destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy, and forcing someone to carry out an act against their will, news agency PTI reported, quoting the police.

The arrest was made after the victim doctor's father lodged a fresh complaint at the Khardaha Police Station on Monday, alleging that Ghosh was among three persons who had forced the "hurried cremation" of his daughter's body.

The Barrackpore Police Commissionerate in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had registered a fresh first information report (FIR) on the basis of the complaint and launched a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cremation.

Three persons were named in the complaint: Ghosh, Panihati Municipality councillor Somnath Dey, and Sanjeev Mukherjee, a neighbour of the victim's family, news agency IANS reported.

The move followed directions issued by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during an event at Panihati on August 8 to mark the anniversary of the junior doctor's death.

Family alleges haste in RG Kar victim's postmortem, cremation

The victim's body was found in a seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024. Investigations later confirmed that she had been raped and murdered the previous night, August 8.

The victim's family members and junior doctors had alleged that both the post-mortem and cremation were conducted in undue haste. They claimed the body was cremated at a Panihati crematorium without the signature of any family member and that cremation charges were waived.

According to the complaint, the cremation was carried out under the supervision of the three individuals named in the FIR. It further alleges that the haste in conducting the cremation may have been intended to prevent any possibility of a second autopsy.

Attending a memorial programme for the victim doctor in Panihati on Sunday, Adhikari had directed the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to launch a fresh probe into the alleged hasty cremation.

Announcing the fresh probe on August 8, the Chief Minister had said that questions remained unanswered regarding the circumstances of the cremation, including the waiver of charges and the absence of a family member's signature.

"The role of three persons named Nirmal Ghosh, Somnath Dey and Sanjeev Mukherjee in the cremation ground where the body of the woman junior doctor was cremated needs to be investigated. I have ordered the registration of a new case separately and to investigate the matter, apart from the court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). I have asked the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to take necessary steps in this regard. There is a mystery why no charge was taken for the cremation of the victim's body. Why was the victim's body cremated without the signature of any family member? All these will be probed again," the Chief Minister had said at a programme.

West Bengal Health Department to conduct separate probe into RG Kar case

Earlier on August 7, state Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee, an acclaimed medical practitioner, announced that while the CBI will continue with its own probe, the West Bengal Health Department will also conduct a separate and independent investigation, considering that the victim was a woman junior doctor.

He said the department will share its findings with the CBI.

According to the Minister, the Health Department will question those who went to the crime scene, reportedly a seminar room within the hospital premises, before and after the incident on the night of August 8, 2024.

College professors will also be questioned in connection with the case.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)