The UPI payment helped the police trace three suspects involved in the killing of Chandranath Rath, an aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
According to news agency PTI, the three accused were arrested on Sunday and later detained by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The SIT was constituted to investigate the murder of Chandranath, which took place in Madhyamgram area of North 24 Parganas district on the night of May 6.
Almost a week later, police arrested three suspects in the case. Police told PTI that investigation revealed that the attackers were from outside West Bengal.
The arrested persons were identified as Vishal Srivastava, a resident of Pandiyapatti in Bihar’s Buxar district, while the other two were from Uttar Pradesh, the official said.
PTI said that investigators suspect one of them to be a sharpshooter.
How UPI Payment Helped Police Catch 3 Suspects
Investigators have traced “digital footprints and inter-state links” in the case, a police officer told PTI.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Rath’s vehicle was allegedly intercepted by a car near Doharia area, near Madhyamgram crossing, while a motorcycle stopped near him.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the car suspected of being used by the attackers had driven through a toll plaza in Bali before the murder.
One of the residents allegedly paid the toll through UPI.
“This digital payment helped the investigators identify the mobile number and establish the identity of one of the suspects. The trail eventually led our teams to the accused,” the officer told PTI.
Detectives are now comparing the identities of the arrested men with CCTV footage and images of the vehicle and its occupants captured at the toll plaza, he said.
“…Based on technical surveillance, digital surveillance and other inputs, SIT members were sent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They arrested three persons from UP. They will be taken to West Bengal on transit remand,” the officer said.
8 people involved in the conspiracy?
At least eight people were involved in the conspiracy and execution of the murder, an official told PTI.
The police are said to believe that the assailants did a thorough reconnaissance before targeting Rath, he said.
“The murder was carried out with careful planning. The attackers took several measures to conceal their identity and movement,” the official said.
“Investigators have relied heavily on digital traces, CCTV footage and technical evidence to establish the sequence of events,” he added.
According to him, the interrogation of the arrested persons is underway.
Who was Chandranath Rath?
Chandranath Rath was a close associate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari. He was shot dead in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on May 6 – two days after the BJP won the West Bengal elections.
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.
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.
After voluntary retirement from the IAF, he worked briefly in the corporate sector before gradually moving into policy coordination and administrative responsibilities.
Rath’s family, like Adhikari’s, was previously associated with the Trinamool Congress. Rath’s mother, Hasi Rath, held a position in the local panchayat body in Purba Medinipur during the TMC years before shifting allegiance to the BJP in 2020 along with Adhikari.
