Former TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh, 2 others named in FIR over RG Kar doctor’s cremation

Former TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh and two others were named in an FIR over the alleged hurried cremation of the RG Kar doctor. The victim's father alleged the cremation was conducted without family consent to prevent a second autopsy and conceal evidence

Kolkata: Former Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh and two others have been named in an FIR registered by the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate in connection with the alleged hurried cremation of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024, officials said on Monday.

The two others are Panihati Municipality councillor Somnath Dey and Sanjeev Mukherjee, a neighbour of the victim’s family. The FIR was registered at Khardah police station on the basis of a complaint by the deceased doctor’s father, who alleged that the cremation was carried out in undue haste under the supervision of the three accused, allegedly to prevent the possibility of a second autopsy and thus conceal evidence. A senior police officer of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate said the fresh case is separate from the CBI investigation into the rape and murder of the doctor.

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“The CBI is probing the rape and murder case at RG Kar hospital, which falls under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police. The new FIRs lodged at Khardah police station are based on complaints by the family of the deceased that the body was cremated in a hurry without the consent of the family members to hush up evidence,” the officer told PTI. The development came two days after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, while attending a programme to mark the second death anniversary of the doctor, directed the police to register a separate case into the circumstances surrounding the cremation.

Adhikari had said there were questions over the cremation, including the alleged waiver of the cremation fee and the absence of signatures of the victim’s family members on the relevant documents.

“The role of Ghosh, Dey and Mukherjee in the cremation needs to be investigated. I have ordered the registration of a new case separately, apart from the court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). I have asked the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to take necessary steps in this regard,” he had said on August 8. The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.

Investigators subsequently established that she had been raped and murdered the previous night. According to the police, the body was taken to a crematorium in Panihati and cremated in haste, allegedly overtaking two other bodies waiting in the queue. Police have also raised questions over the signatures on the cremation consent documents, saying they were allegedly those of neighbours and not the victim’s parents or other family members.

The CBI is separately investigating the rape and murder case following the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police. One person was convicted in the case, and the matter is now pending in the Calcutta High Court.