Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Former TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh remanded in extortion case
Nirmal Ghosh used to be a very important politician in a part of India called West Bengal.
He belonged to a political party called the Trinamool Congress.
The police caught him in a town called Balasore and took him to court.
The police say he took a lottery ticket from his own driver by force.
The driver said Ghosh kept the ticket and claimed he had won prize money.
A judge sent Ghosh to police custody for eight days so the police could question him.
Ghosh was also linked to another case about the quick cremation of a doctor who was hurt and killed.
A special team called the CBI is investigating that case, and the court let him go free on bail for it.
While he was being taken to court, an angry crowd threw eggs, shoes and dirt at him.
Former Trinamool Congress chief whip Nirmal Ghosh was remanded to eight days' police custody by the Barrackpore sub-divisional court in an extortion case.
Ghosh was arrested from a hotel in Balasore, Odisha, on Thursday.
Ghosh's driver filed a police complaint alleging Ghosh forcibly took away a lottery ticket against which he claimed prize money.
The court granted Ghosh bail in the case concerning the 'hurried cremation' of the raped-murdered R G Kar hospital doctor, which the CBI is probing as per a Calcutta High Court order.
An agitated crowd attacked Ghosh with blows, kicks, footwear, eggs and muck while he was being escorted to court, prompting police to cover his head with a helmet.
- Who
- Nirmal Ghosh, former Trinamool Congress chief whip in the West Bengal Assembly and ex-Panihati MLA
- What
- Remanded to eight days' police custody in an extortion case, while being granted bail in the case over the hurried cremation of the raped-murdered R G Kar hospital doctor
- When
- On Friday, a day after his Thursday arrest from a hotel in Balasore
- Where
- Barrackpore sub-divisional court in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal; arrested in Balasore, Odisha
- Why
- He is accused of extortion through threats of death or severe physical harm, organised crime and criminal intimidation, based on his driver's complaint that he forcibly took a lottery ticket
Defense (Ghosh's Counsel)
Police / Prosecution
Jurisdiction over the R G Kar cremation case
Defense (Ghosh's Counsel)
Ghosh's counsel argued the accusation about the hurried cremation of the victim doctor is already being probed by the CBI under a Calcutta High Court order over a larger conspiracy, and the state police cannot intervene while another agency investigates.
Police / Prosecution
Police arrested Ghosh in connection with his alleged involvement in the hurried cremation of the doctor and the extortion case, and he was produced before the court in connection with both matters.
Treatment of the accused by the public
Defense (Ghosh's Counsel)
Police and RAF personnel had to maintain a tight cordon and cover Ghosh's head with a helmet to protect him from the hostile crowd while escorting him to court.
Police / Prosecution
An agitated crowd greeted Ghosh with blows, kicks, footwear, eggs and muck and shouted 'chor, chor' slogans, reflecting public anger over the allegations against him.
- Accused
- Nirmal Ghosh, former TMC chief whip and ex-Panihati MLA
- Court
- Barrackpore sub-divisional court, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal
- Custody
- Eight days' police custody (extortion case)
- Arrest
- Picked up from a hotel in Balasore, Odisha, on Thursday
- Complaint
- Ghosh's driver alleges he forcibly took a lottery ticket and claimed the prize money
- Other case
- Bail granted in the case of the 'hurried cremation' of the R G Kar hospital doctor, being probed by the CBI
- Charges
- Extortion, organised crime, criminal intimidation
- Related conviction
- 33-year-old civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy was convicted of the doctor's rape and murder and sentenced to life imprisonment
