LUCKNOW: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to Suvendu Adhikari, has arrested another accused, Rajkumar Singh, from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh.
Rajkumar Singh, a resident of Ballia district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, was returning from Haridwar in Uttarakhand when the CBI laid a trap near a toll plaza in the Chhappar area of Muzaffarnagar. As soon as his vehicle reached the toll plaza early Monday morning, the CBI team apprehended him and later interrogated him for several hours.
Earlier, on May 10, another accused, Raj Singh, also from Ballia, was arrested in Ayodhya by Uttar Pradesh Police based on inputs from West Bengal Police.
Chandranath Rath, 42, was shot dead on May 6, two days after the West Bengal election results were declared. Considering the gravity of the murder, the investigation was subsequently handed over to the CBI.
Sources said the CBI had already been tracking Rajkumar Singh’s movements. CBI officer Rajesh Kumar produced him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, which granted the agency 24-hour custody for further interrogation regarding the alleged murder conspiracy and the involvement of others.
Rajkumar Singh’s father, Tribhuvan Narain Singh, a resident of Ballia, had worked with L&T in Ayodhya and retired in March. The family includes two sons and an elder daughter, while the youngest son studies in Class 5.
Sources said Rajkumar had completed the first year of his BA before dropping out due to lack of interest in studies. He later worked as a crane helper in Mumbai but returned to Uttar Pradesh around eight months ago after leaving the job.
The sources further claimed that Rajkumar was preparing to go abroad. About three years ago, he was jailed in connection with a dispute under the SC/ST Act.
In the Chandranath Rath murder case, Raj Singh, another resident of Ballia, was arrested from Ayodhya on May 10 and later sent to 13 days of police custody by the court.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Police, during the initial stages of the investigation, suspected that Rath’s killing was a contract murder allegedly executed in a planned manner by professional shooters.