CBI to probe murder of Suvendu Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath

Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation into the murder of Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant of senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

A seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a DIG-rank officer of the CBI, has been formed to probe the sensational killing. The agency is expected to formally take charge of the case from the West Bengal Police later in the day.

The development comes after the Bengal Police itself recommended a CBI inquiry into the matter.

On Monday, the state police arrested three alleged sharpshooters from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the murder. The accused were produced before a court in Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, which remanded them to police custody till May 24.

Sources said the accused were secretly brought to Kolkata on Sunday night and taken to Bhabani Bhavan, the state police headquarters in south Kolkata, where they were interrogated overnight.

Rath was shot dead on the night of May 6, just two days after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections were announced. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 207 Assembly seats, while the All India Trinamool Congress was reduced to 80 seats.

According to investigators, Rath was returning home to Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas after attending a party programme when his vehicle was intercepted at a crossing by a four-wheeler.

Initial findings suggest that while Rath’s car was blocked, one of the two motorcycles allegedly tailing the vehicle pulled up beside it. An assailant then reportedly fired around ten rounds at close range.

Rath died on the spot, while his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, sustained critical injuries. Police said Bera is now recovering.

Investigators later found that the number plates used on the four-wheeler and the two motorcycles involved in the attack were fake.

Adhikari has alleged that Rath was targeted because of his close association with him, claiming the killing was politically motivated. He stated that Rath “would not have been killed” had he not been working for the leader who defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency by over 15,000 votes.

With inputs from IANS