Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Former Panihati councillor arrested over hurried cremation of slain doctor
A doctor was found dead and some people think her funeral was rushed too quickly.
Police believe a few people hurried her cremation.
One of them, Sanjib Mukherjee, was a local city leader before.
He was arrested by police and will stay in custody for seven days.
Another former leader, Nirmal Ghosh, was arrested just a few hours before him.
A third man named Somnath Dey is still missing, and police are looking for him.
Mukherjee says he was with the doctor's parents the whole time.
He says he only signed some papers as a witness.
He did not go inside the crematorium, he says, because it reminded him of his wife's cremation four months earlier.
The police are still investigating what really happened.
Former Panihati Municipality councillor Sanjib Mukherjee was arrested on Thursday night over the allegedly hurried cremation of the slain RG Kar doctor.
Mukherjee is one of three accused, along with former Panihati Trinamool MLA Nirmal Ghosh and former Panihati Municipality chairman Somnath Dey.
His arrest came within hours of police detaining Nirmal Ghosh.
The third accused, Somnath Dey, has been untraceable since mid-July and police have stepped up their search for him.
Mukherjee was arrested in an extortion case and sent to seven days of police custody; he maintains he was with the doctor's parents throughout.
- Who
- Sanjib Mukherjee, former Panihati Municipality councillor and one of three accused in the hurried cremation of the slain RG Kar doctor; the others are former Panihati Trinamool MLA Nirmal Ghosh and former Panihati Municipality chairman Somnath Dey.
- What
- Mukherjee's arrest in connection with the allegedly hurried cremation of the slain RG Kar doctor.
- When
- Thursday night (arrest); the doctor was found dead on August 9, 2024.
- Where
- Panihati, under the jurisdiction of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate.
- Why
- He is accused, along with two others, of hurrying the doctor's cremation.
Police / Accusation
Accused's Defense
Hurried cremation
Police / Accusation
Police allege Mukherjee was among three people who hurried the cremation of the slain RG Kar doctor.
Accused's Defense
Mukherjee maintains he stayed with the doctor's parents throughout and only signed a few papers as a witness.
Crematorium attendance
Police / Accusation
His involvement in the cremation is part of the investigation into the hurried rituals.
Accused's Defense
He says he did not enter the crematorium because he did not want to witness rituals like those he performed at his wife's cremation four months earlier.
- Arrested person
- Sanjib Mukherjee, former Panihati Municipality councillor
- Charge context
- Allegedly hurrying the cremation of the slain RG Kar doctor
- Number of accused
- Three
- Other accused
- Nirmal Ghosh (arrested) and Somnath Dey (untraceable since mid-July)
- Doctor found dead
- August 9, 2024
- Custody duration
- Seven days of police custody
- Investigating body
- Barrackpore Police Commissionerate
- Mukherjee's account
- Was with the doctor's parents throughout; signed papers as a witness; did not enter the crematorium