CBI inspects Panihati site where RG Kar victim was cremated
Times of India | 18 June 2026
Kolkata: A newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI, probing the RG Kar rape and murder case, on Wednesday morning visited the Panihati crematorium ground where the victim was allegedly cremated in haste. The team conducted a spot inspection, spoke to employees at the burning ghat, and examined the crematorium’s register records for August 9, 2024 — the day the victim was cremated, hours after the 31-year-old second-year PGT doctor found brutally murdered inside the seminar room of the hospital.
The crematorium, located on the banks of the Hooghly River, had come under scrutiny amid allegations that the victim’s body was hastily cremated in the presence of Trinamool Congress functionaries. CBI officials are understood to be examining the circumstances surrounding the cremation and the events that unfolded there on the day of the incident. The visit comes days after investigators conducted fresh inquiries at RG Kar Hospital.
A three-member SIT of the CBI arrived at the Panihati crematorium on Wednesday morning and questioned crematorium in-charge Bholanath Patra for more than 20 minutes. After recording his statement, the officials left the premises.
Following the post-mortem examination, her body was taken to the Panihati crematorium, reportedly without giving due consideration to the wishes of her family. The family has repeatedly alleged that they were pressured to consent to an immediate cremation.
At the time, allegations were raised against then Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh, current Panihati Municipality Chairman Somnath Dey, and a neighbour of the victim’s family, Sanjib Mukhopadhyay, for allegedly exerting pressure to expedite the cremation. The family has recently approached the court seeking their arrest. They have also alleged that Trinamool Congress workers had virtually surrounded the crematorium, facilitating the swift cremation of the body.
Speaking after his interaction with the CBI, crematorium in-charge Bholanath Patra said the investigators wanted to know exactly what had transpired on the night of the cremation. He claimed that he had provided them with all relevant details. According to him, a large crowd had gathered at the crematorium that night, and the victim’s body was cremated ahead of two other bodies that were waiting for cremation.
The victim’s family expressed hope that the renewed investigation would finally bring justice.
“We have never lost hope. With a new government, a new Chief Minister and a new Health Minister, the investigation has begun afresh. We believe justice will now be delivered. The entire world is watching this case. A doctor was brutally raped and murdered while on duty in a government hospital. If justice is not delivered in such a case, then in which case will it be?” said the victim’s mother, Ratna Debnath, now the MLA from Panihati.
She further alleged that the former Chief Minister and Health Minister should also be brought under the ambit of the investigation. “The crematorium in-charge ‘Bhola’ should be arrested as well. Any cremation at the Panihati crematorium requires the signature of the municipal chairman, but the relevant documents did not bear the then chairman’s signature. My daughter’s body was cremated illegally and in great haste under heavy police presence. It was a deliberate conspiracy to prevent the possibility of a second post-mortem examination,” she claimed.
The victim’s father, said, “We have been saying all along that there was a conspiracy to cremate my daughter’s body illegally and in undue haste at the Panihati crematorium. Nearly 18 to 20 months after the incident, CBI officials have finally visited the crematorium. The agency must now uncover the truth through a proper investigation.”