Jamvanti Singh, the mother of Raj Singh, who was arrested in connection with Chandranath Rath’s killing, defended her son, saying he had attended wedding receptions in Lucknow on May 7 and 8 and had done “nothing wrong”, The Times of India reported.
She said CCTV footage from their residence and visits to local markets could help corroborate her version of events.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram on May 6, two days after the results of the hotly contested West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026 were announced. On Monday, the West Bengal police arrested three suspects, including Raj Singh from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in connection with the murder. Investigators traced the accused through a UPI payment made by one of the suspects at the toll booth.
Jamvanti said her son was traveling with her for the wedding of the daughter of Pappu Singh, a local MLC, along with a driver, one of his friends and another acquaintance. “Raj attended the wedding and returned around midnight. We slept there and were about to leave for Ambedkar Nagar the next morning,” she recalled while talking to reporters.
She mentioned that they had also visited Makhdoom Ashraf Baba’s shrine after they left Lucknow, adding that local residents knew her son and could confirm their visit.
Police stopped their vehicle as they were leaving the area, she said. She claimed that Raj Singh was taken into custody while she was detained at the women’s police station overnight.
She said officials told her that police from Calcutta had flown in and flown her son in for questioning in connection with the case, the report said.
“They said it was just for questioning and that he would be released later, but since then we have no information about where exactly he is,” she claimed, adding that “we have cameras at home. We went shopping in the city and bought things. Everything can be checked.”
Jamvanti stated, “My son has done nothing wrong. Please do a proper investigation and find out the truth.”
Chandranath Rath killing: What did the lawyer representing Raj Singh say?
Meanwhile, counsel representing Raj, arrested in connection with the killing of aide Suvendu Adhikari, welcomed the decision to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to PTI.
Advocate Harivansh Singh also accused the West Bengal Police of not following due process of law in arresting his client Raj Singh. According to him, it was officially proved that the arrest of Raj Singh took place in Ayodhya, which meant that the police should have obtained transit custody from the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate before taking him to Kolkata.
He alleged that instead of securing the required warrant, the West Bengal Police had taken Raj Singh directly to Kolkata.
