Vehicles with fake number plates were used to target and kill Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant of Suvendu Adhikari, the outgoing Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, late on Wednesday night (May 6, 2026), according to the West Bengal Police. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the attack and forensic experts have visited the crime scene in North 24 Parganas, Madhyamgram.
“Had he not been my aide or I had not defeated (outgoing Chief Minister Mamat Banerjee) in Bhabanipur, Rath might not have been targeted. His crime was that he was my personal assistant,” Mr Adhikari said after visiting his aide’s family at Barasat Medical College and Hospital, where an autopsy was being carried out on Rath’s body.
The BJP leader claimed that it was a targeted attack by hired killers who had left the spot a week before the murder was carried out and called for the death penalty for the killers.
A crowd can be seen in the hospital grounds. | Photo credit: Shrabana Chatterjee
Car, escape wheel used fake plates
Rath, 41, was in a white SUV when he was shot three times at point blank range and suffered critical injuries. He was declared brought dead after being taken to a nearby private hospital. A silver car used by the attackers was abandoned near the crime scene and the culprits reportedly fled the scene on two-wheelers. The four-wheeler was detained by the police.
“The number plate of the car has been tampered with as the original registration number is from Siliguri. It was a fake number plate. We have collected evidence from the spot. We are conducting further investigation,” West Bengal Director General of Police Siddhi Nath Gupta said in the early hours of Thursday. One of the motorbikes used to flee the scene was also found and was also said to be using a fake number plate.
Rath, who is fondly remembered as Chandra, was a pilot by profession, but before he started working for Mr. Adhikari eight years ago, he quit and took a private job for some time. He was a resident of Madhyamgram’s Doharia area, where he was heading on Wednesday night when he was shot dead.
“I heard gunshots and ran to the spot. There were three people in the car, two of them were bleeding and one was shouting for help. But they were still alive and breathing, so we asked them to rush to the hospital where he was declared brought dead,” Sushanta Sarkar, a BJP worker and a resident of Doharia, told The Hindu on Thursday. He was one of the eyewitnesses who helped save the victims.
“Heaven for Criminals”
After the post-mortem, a huge crowd gathered inside the hospital and mourners, BJP leaders and workers paid their respects to Rath before his body was taken to his family home in the Chandipur area of Purba Medinipur district, which is also the birthplace of Mr Adhikari.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, who revisited the state hospital on Thursday (May 7) morning, said West Bengal had become a “heaven” for criminals due to the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress government in the state.
“Yesterday’s incident proves the current state of law and order in West Bengal. In the last 15 years, they have destroyed the administration and politicized the police and freed all criminals from fear,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.
“Revenge Killing”
Rath’s grieving mother told reporters that it was a revenge killing as her son worked for the BJP. “As a mother, I cannot seek death for anyone. But I will demand life imprisonment for the culprits,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress was quick to condemn the attack. “We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation, so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay,” said a post on TMC’s official document on X.
Another BJP worker shot dead in Bashirhath on Wednesday evening sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment.
Violence after the vote
Police in West Bengal said at least two deaths had been reported since May 4, when the Assembly election results were announced, although it was not confirmed whether they were due to post-election violence alone. At least 200 FIRs were filed, 433 arrests were made and 1,100 more preventive arrests were made.
People carrying BJP flags pulled down the TMC party office in the heart of Kolkata in the New Market area on Tuesday evening. Although the Kolkata Police said that action would be taken against the officers who were present at the spot, no such action has been taken so far.
Several incidents of vandalism, clashes and arson were reported from many parts of the state following the BJP’s landslide victory, which also left the TMC with a humiliating loss in the assembly after 15 years.
Published – 07 May 2026 21:19 IST
