Victim’s mother says ‘hope for justice’ has been revived as agency steps up investigation into cremation-related allegations

Former Trinamool Congress MLA from Panihati Nirmal Ghosh was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday (June 18, 2026) in connection with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old resident doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024.

The development comes a little over a month after the victim’s mother, Ratna Debnath, now a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Panihati, moved a Sealdah court on May 13 seeking the arrest of Mr. Ghosh, local Trinamool Congress councillor Sanjib Mukhopadhyay, and another party functionary, Somnath Das.

Officials said Mr. Ghosh was questioned over allegations made by the victim’s family that he and his associates had attempted to hasten the cremation of the victim’s body to prevent a second autopsy. The family has also alleged that the cremation was carried out without the necessary documents being handed over to them.

On Wednesday (June 17, 2026), a CBI team also visited the crematorium where the victim was cremated.

Reacting to the development, Ms. Debnath said her “hope for justice” for her daughter had been revived with the CBI becoming more active in the case.

“We were at Tala police station on August 10, 2024, waiting for a second autopsy on my daughter’s body. But my neighbour suddenly called me saying that Mr. Ghosh, Mr. Das, and Mr. Mukhopadhyay had already taken her body back to our home and are preparing to take her to the crematorium as soon as possible. When we reached there, they also called the then DCP (North) Indira Mukherjee and offered us some money in front of her. My husband refused to take that money,” she said.

She also alleged that the three Trinamool Congress leaders later started pressurising the family and took the body to the crematorium without the family’s consent.

“Heavy police force was deployed across both my house and the crematorium. When we reached there, the body was all set to be cremated. I couldn’t even see my daughter’s face properly. Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Mukhopadhyay were present there till the cremation was over,” Ms. Debnath said, demanding the immediate arrest of the three leaders for allegedly attempting to tamper with evidence in the case.

Earlier, on September 23, 2024, Mr. Ghosh was also questioned by the CBI over the same allegations after a doctor who was part of the victim’s autopsy team claimed that one of Mr. Ghosh’s associates had identified himself as the victim’s uncle and directed that the cremation process be expedited.