RG Kar Probe Takes Another Turn:  Sanjib Mukherjee Arrested From Chinar Park

14th August, Kolkata: The RG Kar case has taken a fresh turn with the arrest of former TMC councillor  and neighbour of the victim, Sanjib Mukherjee from Chinar Park on Thursday night. This arrest is in connection with the fresh probe into the alleged hurried cremation of the victim’s body. Police sources cited by IANS confirmed the arrest, making Mukherjee the second person to be arrested in the newly registered case.

This development comes hours after former Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh was arrested in Odisha over his alleged role in the same matter. Ghosh was arrested in Balasore and is being brought back to West Bengal, where he is expected to be produced before a Barrackpore court on Friday.

The fresh FIR was registered at Khardah police station following a complaint by the victim’s father. It names Ghosh, Mukherjee and former Panihati municipal councillor Somnath Dey and alleges conspiracy and destruction or concealment of evidence linked to the cremation.  Dey has not been arrested so far, according to reports.

The main focus of this newly launched probe is specifically on the circumstances surrounding the hurried cremation and destruction of evidence and has no intention to replace the ongoing investigation into the original rape and murder. The case has revived questions over the events between the post-mortem and the cremation in August 2024.

Mukherjee had denied wrongdoing before his arrest. Speaking to Anandabazar Patrika, he said he had remained with the victim’s parents as a neighbour following the death and disputed the allegation that he had hurried the cremation. He stated, “দেহ নিয়ে আমি তাড়াতাড়ি বেরিয়ে আসিনি” (“I did not leave hurriedly with the body”). He also denied entering the crematorium.

The fresh probe was ordered after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari called for an investigation into the alleged irregularities surrounding the cremation. Announcing the move earlier this week, Adhikari said “We have not forgotten Abhaya, not forgotten her at all.”

With this arrest, two of the three accused named in the FIR end up in  police custody, while investigators are expected to examine the sequence of happenings surrounding or leading to the cremation and the individual roles alleged in the complaint.

The allegations against Mukherjee and the other accused remain under investigation, with the probe now trying to deduce the sequence of events surrounding the hurried cremation.