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The rape and murder of the doctor at R G Kar Hospital on August 9, 2024, triggered massive protests across the State. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The former Trinamool Congress MLA from Panihati, Nirmal Ghosh, was arrested by the West Bengal Police early on Thursday (August 13, 2026) for his alleged involvement in the hurried cremation of the 31-year-old resident doctor raped and murdered in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari ordered Barrackpore City Police to lodge a fresh FIR on Sunday (August 9, 2026) over the alleged hurried cremation of the victim which took place apparently without the consent of her family. The FIR was lodged at the Khardah police station by the victim’s father.
The CM said that the CBI was not involved in investigating the cremation. Mr. Adhikari stressed that the family members’ signatures were not taken at the crematorium.
According to police, the TMC leader fled to Odisha the moment the FIR was lodged. “He was hiding at a hotel in Puri and was using a new SIM card to elude the police and maintaining contact only with close aides. The police started tracking him via mobile towers on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) and traced him to the hotel. He was arrested by a team of Khardah police from that hotel early on Thursday (August 13, 2026),” a senior police officer from Barrackpore Police Commissionerate stated.
Also Read : Murder most foul: On the R.G. Kar case
Mr. Ghosh is being brought to Kolkata by road and will be produced before a court on Friday (August 14, 2026), police said.
The victim’s mother, Ratna Debnath — BJP MLA from Panihati — moved the Sealdah court on May 13 seeking the arrest of Mr. Ghosh, the local Trinamool Congress councillor, Sanjib Mukhopadhyay, and another party functionary Somnath Das.
The petition alleged that Mr. Ghosh and his associates attempted to cremate the body hastily to prevent a second autopsy, performing the last rites without handing over necessary documents to the victim’s family.
The fresh FIR invokes sections on disrespecting a human corpse, tampering with evidence, and criminal intimidation, said the officer. Police also said that a primary investigation at the crematorium revealed several irregularities on the day of cremation of the victim. Prima facie, Mr. Ghosh‘s associates allegedly misrepresented themselves as the victim’s uncles at the crematorium and directed officials there to hasten the last rites.
On June 18, a CBI team visited the crematorium where the victim was cremated. They interrogated Mr. Ghosh.
Mr. Ghosh, a former MLA from Panihati, also served as the chief whip of the Mamata Banerjee government. His son, Tirthankar Ghosh, contested the Assembly polls from Panihati and lost to Ratna Debnath.
Tirthankar Ghosh was arrested in July this year over allegations of extortion and violence.
After the arrest, Nirmal Ghosh’s daughter Chanda Ghosh told the media that they had no idea about his whereabouts for the last two months, but he had been cooperating with the investigation. TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh said, “If Mr. Ghosh is found guilty, he should be punished. But we must remember that he used to help people in the locality.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s mother and BJP MLA Ms. Debnath said the arrest had revived hope in her that justice would be done and thanked the CM.
Published – August 13, 2026 02:33 pm IST
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