Chandranath Rath killing: CBI arrests ‘main gunman’ Rajkumar in Muzaffarnagar. Today’s news
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an accused named Rajkumar in connection with the murder case of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s Personal Assistant (PA) Chandranath Rath, sources told news agency ANI.
“The accused was arrested in Muzaffarnagar; he is the main shooter,” CBI sources said.
“The CBI has obtained remand for the accused and will produce him before a special CBI court in Kolkata tomorrow,” sources said.
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Killing Chandranath Rath
Chandranath Rath, Adhikari’s executive assistant, was shot dead in Madhyamgram’s Doharia Lane, about 7 km from the Kolkata airport, on May 6. He was killed two days after the declaration of the hotly disputed West Bengal assembly results.
Rath’s SUV intercepted a silver car near his residence after which gunmen on two-wheelers opened fire and killed him.
Read also | Who was Chandranath Rath, Suvendu Adhikari’s trusted aide?
The attackers then abandoned the silver car and fled in a red car and a motorcycle. Two motorcycles linked to the crime were later found, one near the spot and another at Barasat, about 6 km away.
The license plates of all the vehicles were allegedly forged and their engine and chassis numbers tampered with, police said.
Read also | How a UPI payment led to the arrest of three suspects in Chandranath Rath’s murder
On May 11, West Bengal police arrested three people in connection with the murder. They were identified as Mayank Raj Mishra, Vicky Maurya and Raj Singh.
The court sent the three accused to police custody till May 24 after their arrest from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya were nabbed from Buxar in Bihar while Raj Singh was nabbed from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh based on investigative leads.
The arrest came after police traced a UPI payment made by one of the attackers at a toll booth in Bally, near Kolkata.
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“The motorcycle used in the crime was registered in the year 2012 in the name of a resident of Burnpur in Asansol. However, the police found that no person of that name is currently staying at the address given in the registration of the vehicle,” another police officer said.
On May 13, the CBI took over the case and filed a FIR for Rath’s murder. The agency has constituted a seven-member SIT to investigate the incident.
On May 15, a CBI team questioned Raj Singh’s family members, a police officer said.
Investigators are currently questioning them to uncover a wider conspiracy and identify the mastermind behind the murder.
Who was Chandranath Rath?
Rath, 41, hailed from Chandipur in Purba Medinipur district, a political turf that shaped Adhikari’s rise in Bengali politics, party sources told news agency PTI.
The quiet and unassuming Rath has remained largely out of the public eye despite being part of Adhikari’s inner circle for years, the news agency said.
Before joining active political organizational work, Rath spent nearly two decades in the Indian Air Force (IAF) after completing his studies at Rahara Ramakrishna Mission, Rahara, West Bengal.
Read also | Who was Chandranath Rath, Suvendu Adhikari’s trusted aide?
After voluntary retirement from the IAF, he worked briefly in the corporate sector before gradually moving into political coordination and administrative responsibilities.
Rath formally became part of Adhikari’s official team around 2019, when the latter served as a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s government.
He initially handled the duties associated with Adhikari’s ministerial office and later continued in a similar role after Adhikari defected to the BJP.
Over the years, Rath emerged as a key figure behind Adhikari’s political operations, coordinating organizational work, managing logistics and maintaining communication with party workers.
Adhikari was a close aide of Mamata Banerjee and joined the BJP in 2020. So did Rath and his family.