Panihati municipality ex-chairman arrested from Bengaluru
Times of India | 4 September 2026
Kolkata: A special team of Bengal Police arrested ex-Panihati Municipality chairman Somnath Dey in Bengaluru in the early hours of Thursday for his alleged role in the hurried cremation of the RG Kar rape-murder victim and the alleged destruction of evidence. Police said that he will be brought to Khardah PS on transit remand on Friday and produced in Barrackpore court.
“Somnath Dey was produced before the Civil City Court in Bengaluru on Thursday and taken on a three-day transit remand. He is being brought to Khardah and would be interrogated soon,” a senior officer of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate said.
According to cops, Dey had been absconding, repeatedly changing locations and using multiple phone numbers after Khardah PS registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the victim’s family on Aug 10.
The victim’s family alleged that Dey along with former Panihati MLA Nirmal Ghosh misused his administrative power and influence to bypass legal and social procedures and arrange a hurried cremation, with the aim of destroying crucial evidence.
The Aug 10 FIR followed a directive from CM Suvendu Adhikari to the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate during an Aug 9 memorial meeting at Panihati to examine the events at the cremation ground.
Dey is the third person arrested in connection with the FIR. Ghosh was arrested at a hotel near Puri in Odisha, while former councillor and neighbour Sanjib Mukhopadhyay was arrested at a house in Chinar Park. Both were granted bail in this case, although Ghosh remains in jail in connection with a separate case.
Reacting to Dey’s arrest, the victim’s mother and now Panihati’s BJP MLA Ratna Debnath said, “Two people were already arrested. Now, the third accused has also been arrested — the people who conspired to cremate my daughter’s body that day and forcibly carried out the cremation in haste in an attempt to destroy evidence. Following the CM’s instructions, cops have taken the right steps. Now, I want justice as soon as possible.”