West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday, 9 August 2025, ordered a fresh state police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the hurried cremation of the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder victim — two years after the crime that shook the country. The re-investigation will be supervised by the Commissioner of Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, under whose jurisdiction the Panihati crematorium in North 24 Parganas falls.

What the Fresh Probe Will Cover

The body of the woman junior doctor was recovered from a seminar room inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, on the morning of 9 August 2024. It was subsequently established that she was raped and murdered on the night of 8 August 2024. Allegations have persisted since then that the post-mortem and inquest were conducted in undue haste, and that the body was cremated at the Panihati crematorium — the ancestral residence of the deceased — without a family member's signature and without any cremation charge being collected.

According to Chief Minister Adhikari, the new case will specifically examine the roles of three named individuals: Nirmal Ghosh, former Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator from Panihati; Somnath Dey; and Sanjeev Mukherjee — all of whom were allegedly present at or connected to the cremation ground. The re-investigation will run parallel to, and separately from, the court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

What the Chief Minister Said

Speaking at a memorial programme in Panihati, Adhikari said: 'The role of three persons named Nirmal Ghosh, Somnath Dey and Sanjeev Mukherjee in the cremation ground where the body of the woman junior doctor was cremated needs to be investigated. I have been ordered to register a new case separately and investigate the matter, apart from the court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation. I have asked the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to take necessary steps in this regard. There is mystery why no cremation charge was taken for cremation of the victim's body. Why was the victim's body cremated without the signature of any family member? All these will be probed again.'

He added: 'So, this is an area where a fresh investigation will be conducted by the state police.'

Allegations Against Former Officials

It has been alleged that the hurried cremation was carried out under the supervision of Sandip Ghosh, the then principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, along with the former Panihati legislator Nirmal Ghosh and senior officials of the Kolkata Police. Critics and the victim's family have argued that the cremation was expedited to prevent the body from being available for a repeat autopsy — an allegation that authorities have not formally confirmed.

Health Department to Conduct Independent Inquiry

A day earlier, on Saturday, state Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee announced that the West Bengal Health Department would conduct its own separate and independent investigation into the case, alongside the ongoing CBI probe. The minister said the department would question individuals who visited the crime scene — reportedly the seminar room within the hospital premises — both before and after the incident on the night of 8 August 2024. Professors of the deceased doctor are also expected to be questioned. The Health Department has said it will share its findings with the CBI.

What Comes Next

The twin announcements — a state police re-investigation into the cremation and a Health Department inquiry into the crime scene — mark a significant escalation in the political and institutional response to the RG Kar case on its second anniversary. All eyes will now be on the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate to register the fresh case and on the CBI's parallel proceedings, with the findings of both expected to intersect on questions of evidence preservation and institutional accountability.