Kolkata, September 4 (Daily Kiran) : In Kolkata, significant public outrage erupted as former Panihati municipal chief Somnath Dey was escorted to court amid allegations related to a high-profile rape and murder case. Dey was arrested on Thursday in Bengaluru and brought to Kolkata on transit remand the following morning.
Upon his arrival at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Dey was taken to the Khardah police station. News of his arrest quickly spread, prompting a large crowd to gather outside the police station. As police officers led him out, the crowd responded by throwing eggs and stones at him. To protect Dey, officers quickly placed a helmet on his head.
It remains unclear whether Dey sustained any injuries during the incident, but some police personnel reportedly suffered minor injuries in the scuffle. Following the unrest, he was presented before the Barakpur court.
The police have requested the court to grant them custody of Dey for further questioning regarding his alleged role in a conspiracy to hastily cremate the victim’s body. Previously, two co-accused in the case, former Trinamool Congress MLA Nirmal Ghosh and neighbor Sanjeev Mukherjee, had also been arrested and are currently in judicial custody.
Dey went into hiding after the West Bengal police initiated an investigation into the conspiracy involving the expedited cremation. On August 8, during a memorial event marking the second anniversary of the victim’s death, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced a re-investigation into the case. Allegations surfaced that the body was cremated in haste to eliminate the possibility of a second post-mortem.
Following a new complaint filed by the victim’s father at the Khardah police station, a fresh FIR was registered against Dey, Ghosh, and Mukherjee. Initially, all three suspects evaded capture. Last month, Ghosh was apprehended in neighboring Odisha, while Mukherjee was arrested from a residence in Kolkata’s Chinar Park area. Dey, however, remained elusive until his recent capture in Bengaluru.
The case gained notoriety after the body of a female doctor was discovered on the morning of August 9, 2024, in the seminar hall of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Investigations revealed that she had been brutally raped and murdered the night before. Allegations emerged that her body was rushed to a crematorium in Panihati, violating established protocols, with Ghosh, Mukherjee, and Dey overseeing the entire cremation process.
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