Ex-TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh arrested for ‘hastily cremating’ RG Kar rape-murder victim

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had ordered the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to conduct a fresh probe into the alleged hasty cremation.

Updated on: Aug 13, 2026, 14:22:14 IST

By HT News Desk

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Former Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh was arrested in Odisha on Thursday in connection with the alleged "hurried cremation" of the doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in 2024, police said.

Social activists protest outside the Civil and Criminal Court, Sealdah, over the rape-murder of an on-duty PGT doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. (Samir Jana/HT File Photo)

Ghosh, who represented Panihati, was arrested on charges of destroying evidence, criminal conspiracy and forcing a person to carry out an act against their will, news agency PTI reported citing police.

The arrest came after the victim's father filed a fresh complaint at the Khardaha police station on Monday. He alleged that Ghosh was one of three people who had forced the "hurried cremation" of his daughter's body.

Bengal CM ordered fresh probe

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had ordered the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to conduct a fresh probe into the alleged hasty cremation while attending a memorial programme for the victim in Panihati on Sunday.

"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.

RG Kar rape-murder case

The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.

Investigators later found that she had been raped and murdered the previous night.

Police said her body was taken to a crematorium in Panihati, where it was allegedly cremated in haste after being moved ahead of two other bodies waiting in the queue.

The BJP government in the state has also been raised over the signatures on the documents granting consent for the cremation. Police said the signatures were allegedly those of neighbours rather than the victim's parents or other family members.

The CBI is separately probing the rape and murder case after the investigation was transferred from the Kolkata Police. One person has been convicted in the case, which is still pending before the Calcutta high court.

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HT News Desk
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