The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has discovered that the car used in the killing of Chandranath Rath, the late personal assistant of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, was obtained from Jharkhand. Mayank Raj Mishra, one of the three suspects apprehended, revealed that he was tasked by a Jharkhand individual to transport the vehicle to Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, near the site of Rath’s murder.
Mishra admitted to driving the car from Jharkhand to Barasat, where he changed the number plate with a counterfeit one at an isolated spot close to Barasat rail gate. The original plate is registered with the regional transport office in Siliguri, West Bengal. He also confessed to receiving Rs 1,00,000 for the delivery and subsequently heading to Howrah Station, where he was arrested after traveling to Buxar.
The fatal attack on Rath occurred on May 6, following the declaration of West Bengal Assembly election results on May 4. Rath, returning home from a party event in Madhyamgram, was intercepted by the Jharkhand-sourced vehicle at a junction. The investigation indicates that Rath’s vehicle was blocked by the car, allowing an assailant on a motorcycle to approach and fire ten shots at close range.
Rath succumbed to his injuries at the scene, while his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, sustained severe wounds but is now in stable condition. Adhikari asserted that Rath’s assassination was linked to his role as the aide to the individual who defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, South Kolkata, by a significant margin in the recent elections.
