Three sharpshooters captured in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Chandranath Rath assassination case are scheduled to appear in a district court at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district on Monday. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal Police, responsible for investigating the murder, made the arrests. Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant to the current West Bengal Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, was fatally shot by assailants on motorcycles on May 6.
All three suspects will be presented in court later in the day, with the public prosecutor expected to request their police custody, according to sources within the state police. The identities of the sharpshooters will remain undisclosed until their court appearance and custody transfer to the investigating team are finalized. The exact location in Uttar Pradesh where the three suspects were apprehended is being kept confidential by the authorities.
The arrested individuals were discreetly transported to Kolkata on Sunday night and taken to the state police headquarters at Bhabani Bhavan in South Kolkata. Throughout the night, investigative officials interrogated the suspects. The murder of Rath occurred on the night of May 6, just after the West Bengal Assembly election results were announced on May 4, with BJP candidates winning in 207 constituencies.
Rath was attacked while returning home from a party event in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas district, on May 6 night. His vehicle was intercepted at a junction by another car, following which one of the motorcycles tailing Rath’s vehicle pulled up alongside and fired multiple shots at close range. Rath succumbed to his injuries on the spot, while his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, sustained severe wounds but is now in stable condition.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the number plates on the vehicles involved in the attack were counterfeit. Suvendu Adhikari asserted that Rath’s death was linked to his role as the personal assistant to the individual who defeated Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur constituency by a significant margin.
