The CBI today questioned Nirmal Ghosh for close to seven hours, the Trinamul MLA from Panihati and chief government whip of Assembly in connection with the hasty cremation of female PGT doctor at R G Kar Hospital.

He was asked to appear at the CGO Complex on Monday, and he arrived at the central agency’s office before 11 am. The central investigators question him long hours regarding the rape and murder case. On 9 August, the body of the female doctor was found in the seminar hall on the fourth floor of R G Kar Hospital.

Nirmal had visited the hospital that day. In fact, Nirmal is the MLA of the area where the victim resided, and he had gone to the hospital with the victim’s family on that day. As per the court’s order, the CBI is investigating the case and recording the MLA’s statement. Upon arriving at the CGO Complex on Monday, when questioned by the media, Nirmal said, “This incident happened in my area. I have some belongings to submit, so I have come.” On the day of the incident, Nirmal had told the media at R G Kar, “Our goal is to catch the main culprit. Everyone is trying for that. Senior police officials, including the CP, have arrived. Administrative officials are also present. A heinous crime has occurred. A doctor on duty was brutally murdered. We are doing everything possible to ensure justice. Everything is happening in front of the cameras.”

Today he denied that he had no role for hurried processing to burn the victim’s body. “Do you believe that I have such power to burn the body hurriedly?” However, Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has today accused Panihati MLA Nirmal Ghosh and his close associates of orchestrating the hurried cremation of the body. According to Adhikari, the cremation was rushed in a bid to prevent a further post-mortem that could reveal crucial evidence. During his address to the media, Adhikari referred to explosive statements made by Dr Apurba Biswas, a forensic expert and part of the team that conducted the initial post-mortem. After being questioned by the CBI, Dr Biswas revealed that a man claiming to be the victim’s uncle threatened that if the post-mortem was not completed by the end of the day, there would be “bloodbath”. “This man has been identified as Sanjib Mukherjee, a former CPM councillor of Panihati Municipality, who later joined the TMC and became a close ally of Nirmal Ghosh,” Adhikari said.

Adhikari highlighted that Mukherjee’s involvement in the cremation process raises serious questions. Despite not being a family member, “Mukherjee’s signature appeared on the victim’s cremation certificate,” further suggesting his role in hurrying the process. “Everyone knows that the victim was cremated in haste. Police were overseeing the operations at the crematorium, and there was an extraordinary urgency to dispose of the body,” Adhikari stated.