03 September,2026 10:39 AM IST | Kolkata | mid-day online correspondent
The public prosecutor is expected to seek his police custody for questioning in the case. Representational Pic
West Bengal Police on Thursday said absconding former Panihati Municipality chief Somnath Dey, the third co-accused in the alleged conspiracy surrounding the hurried cremation of the RG Kar rape-murder victim's body in August 2024, was arrested in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Dey is currently in the custody of a West Bengal Police team. He will be brought to Kolkata on transit remand later in the day and subsequently produced before the Barrackpore district court in North 24 Parganas, reported IANS.
The public prosecutor is expected to seek his police custody for questioning in the case.
Earlier, two other co-accused in the alleged hurried cremation conspiracy case, former Trinamool Congress legislator from Panihati Nirmal Ghosh and Sanjeev Mukherjee, a neighbour of the victim's family in Panihati, were arrested by the state police.
Both are currently in judicial custody.
Dey had gone missing after the West Bengal Police began investigating the alleged hurried cremation angle and identified Ghosh, Mukherjee and Dey as the three principal conspirators.
On August 8, while speaking at a programme marking the second death anniversary of the RG Kar rape-murder victim, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced a fresh probe by the Barrackpore Police Commissariat into the alleged hurried cremation.
According to IANS, it is suspected that the last rites at a crematorium in Panihati were allegedly conducted hastily to eliminate the possibility of a second post-mortem examination of the body.
Following this, a fresh FIR was registered at Khardah Police Station under the Barrackpore Police Commissariat, naming Ghosh, Mukherjee and Dey.
The FIR was based on a fresh complaint filed by the victim's father.
Initially, all three accused were absconding. Ghosh was arrested last month in neighbouring Odisha, followed by Mukherjee, who was arrested from a house in Chinar Park, Kolkata.
Dey remained absconding until his arrest in Bengaluru.
The body of the female doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was recovered from a seminar hall on the morning of August 9, 2024. She was subsequently found to have been raped and murdered the previous night.
Later, allegations surfaced that the victim's body was hurriedly taken to a crematorium in Panihati and cremated in haste, allegedly in violation of cremation-related protocols.
It has also been alleged that the entire cremation process was supervised by Ghosh, Mukherjee and Dey. The allegations are subject to investigation.
(With IANS inputs)
