KOLKATA: Police on Thursday recovered one of the two motorbikes used in the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant (PA) of the BJP leader, Suvendu, in West Bengal, on Wednesday night.
The bike was recovered from near a tea shop, nearly 4 km from the scene of the crime in Madhyamgram in the North 24 Parganas district.
According to the preliminary investigations conducted jointly by West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and state police revealed that, like the Nissan four-wheeler used in the incident, the number plate of the motorbike recovered by police is fake, and the chassis number has also been tampered with so that the owner can not be traced.
Police investigating the case are yet to recover the second motorbike.
Three local criminals in the area have been detained by police today for interrogation.
Suvendu, along with several other Bengal BJP leaders, including Samik Bhattacharya, state president of the party, Locket Chatterjee and others, visited the Barasat government Medical College Hospital, where the post-mortem of Rath, a resident of Chandipur in East Midnapore district, who used to live at Doharia in Maddhyamgram, was performed today.
“I have spoken to the Director General of Police (DGP) today. The CID, along with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the case. We are satisfied with the investigation conducted by our state police, and there is no need of any CBI probe. Mystery behind the murder will be revealed, and culprits involved in the case will be arrested soon,” Suvendu told reporters today.
“An innocent, educated youth was murdered because he was the personal assistant of Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur,” “It’s a cold-blooded murder by Trinamool Congress goons. Maddhyamgram and Barasat areas are epicentres of making false ration, EPIC and Aadhaar cards. We have won the elections, but our party workers are being killed. Three BJP men have already been killed in post-poll violence in the state,” Samik said.
“What’s the motive behind the murder. Trinamool Congress should no longer think that we are weak and have no power. But we don’t want retaliation. We are urging our workers and supporters not to get involved in violence,” the Bengal BJP chief said.
The unidentified assailants who had been tailing him in two motorbikes and a car shot at Rath three times when he was on his way home to Madhyamgram in an SUV around 10.15 pm on Wednesday.
The SIT has also recovered CCTV footage from an apartment complex in front of which the murder took place. The time stamp on the CCTV footage revealed that the murder took place between 10 pm and 10 15 pm.
Sources said the assailants fled in less than a minute, hinting at the possibility of a sharpshooter engaged to carry out the attack. They also said the car had chased Rath’s SUV for nearly 7 km.
“The car trailing Rath blocked his way. Two motorbikes stopped on both sides of Rath’s vehicle, and then the assailant sprayed bullets. Some of the cartridges have been recovered and sent for examination,” according to police sources.
The assailants left the car and fled in the motorbikes. Witnesses informed the cops that the assailants took a narrow road from Doharia instead of continuing on Jessore Road.
Police are also probing whether contract killers were involved in the murder.
Rath’s driver, Buddhadeb Bera, is undergoing treatment at a premier private hospital in Kolkata in a critical condition. Doctors performed a surgery on Bera on Thursday morning, but he remains very critical.
Police sources said three bullets that hit Bera have been removed, one from near the small intestine and another in his chest. A third bullet on the shoulder blade is yet to be removed.
Rath was a close aide who had been working with Adhikari for almost a decade.
Condemning the incident the Trinamool Congress demanded CBI investigation to probe the case. “We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force,” the party posted on its X handle just after midnight.
“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. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy, and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” it added. Rath’s body was taken to his Kulup village in East Midnapore for cremation.