A fresh FIR has been registered at Khardah Police Station under the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, naming three individuals over allegations of an unduly hurried cremation of the RG Kar rape and murder victim at a crematorium in Panihati in August 2024. The complaint was filed by the victim's father and marks a significant new development in a case that has gripped the nation for over a year.

Who Has Been Named

Three persons are named in the complaint: Nirmal Ghosh, former All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA and ex-Chief Whip of the party in the Assembly; Somnath Dey, a councillor of Panihati Municipality; and Sanjeev Mukherjee, a neighbour of the victim's family. According to the complaint, the cremation was reportedly carried out under the supervision of these three individuals.

What the Allegations State

The victim's family and junior doctors had long alleged that both the postmortem examination and the cremation were conducted in undue haste. They claimed the body was cremated at the Panihati crematorium without the signature of any family member, and that cremation charges were waived — circumstances the complaint alleges may have been intended to prevent the possibility of a second autopsy.

Notably, the victim's body was found in a seminar room at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on 9 August 2024. Investigations confirmed she had been raped and murdered the previous night, 8 August 2024.

What the Chief Minister Said

The fresh probe was announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on 8 August 2025 during a programme at Panihati to mark the second death anniversary of the junior doctor. Adhikari stated that key questions surrounding the cremation remained unanswered.

'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 ordered the registration of a new case separately and to investigate the matter, apart from the court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). I have asked the Barrackpore Police Commissioner to take necessary steps in this regard. There is a mystery why no charge was taken for the 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,' Adhikari said at the programme.

Health Department Probe Running in Parallel

On 7 August 2025, state Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee announced that the West Bengal Health Department would conduct a separate, independent investigation alongside the ongoing CBI probe, given that the victim was a woman junior doctor. The department intends to question individuals who were present at the crime scene — reportedly a seminar room within the hospital premises — before and after the incident on the night of 8 August 2024. College professors are also expected to be questioned. The Health Department has said it will share its findings with the CBI.

What Comes Next

With the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate now conducting its own investigation, the RG Kar case has multiple parallel probes running — the court-monitored CBI investigation, the state Health Department inquiry, and this new FIR-based police probe. Whether these parallel tracks converge or conflict will be closely watched by the victim's family, the medical community, and civil society groups that have sustained pressure on authorities since August 2024.