Chandranath Rath was shot point blank after his car, an SUV, was forced to slow down. The driver of the SUV has also suffered injuries.
Chandranath Rath, the executive assistant of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead from close range by some unidentified assailants. The incident happened near Doltala, Madhyamgram, in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, on Wednesday morning around 10:30 PM, when Chandranath Rath was on his way home to Barasat city.
Chandranath Rath was shot point-blank after his car, an SUV, was forced to slow down. The driver of the SUV has also suffered injuries. While both were taken to a Kolkata hospital immediately, Chandranath Rath did not survive the attack, and his driver has remained in a critical condition.
How Chandranath Rath was killed 2 days after the BJP victory
Eyewitnesses cited by PTI claimed that the vehicle carrying Chandranath Rath was first blocked near Doharia junction by a small four-wheeler.
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Chandranath Rath was shot at close range by motorcycle-borne assailants who forced his SUV to slow down and stop near Doltala, Madhyamgram. The assailants approached the passenger side of the vehicle and fired multiple rounds through the window, hitting Rath three times.
Chandranath Rath’s SUV was first blocked by a four-wheeler near Doharia junction. Later, motorcycle-borne assailants intercepted his vehicle near Doltala, Madhyamgram, forcing it to stop. They then approached the vehicle and fired shots at Rath.
The West Bengal Police seized a four-wheeler used in the crime, which reportedly had a fake number plate. Live rounds and fired cartridges were recovered from the incident spot, and eyewitness accounts were recorded as part of the ongoing investigation.
Suvendu Adhikari described the incident as a ‘cold-blooded murder’ and alleged it was a result of 15 years of TMC’s ‘Mahajungle raj’. He appealed to party workers to maintain peace and expressed faith in the police investigation.
Yes, a senior police officer indicated it was a planned murder, stating that the killer waited for Chandranath Rath to die after shooting him. Preliminary information also suggests the assailants had conducted a recce before the attack.
A while later, Rath was intercepted near Doltala in Madhyamgram around 10.30 pm by some motorcycle-borne assailants who tailed his vehicle and forced the SUV to slow down and eventually stop.
A bike then pulled up next to the passenger seat, where Chandranath Rath was sitting, and fired multiple rounds through the rolled-up window. Three of the bullets fired hit Chandranath Rath, who died soon after.
The occupants of the four-wheeler later abandoned the vehicle and escaped on the motorcycle.
Images of the SUV showed a shattered window and a large bullet hole in it.
A senior police officer told The Indian Express that it was a planned murder since “after he shot Rath, the killer waited for him to die.”
Chandranath Rath’s killing comes as West Bengal already simmers from post-poll violence after the BJP’s landslide victory and end to Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule.
How Suvendu Adhikari reacted
Suvendu Adhikari, however, stopped short of directly naming any organisation behind the attack and appealed to party workers to have faith in the police and law-enforcing agencies.
He said, “We don’t want to draw any conclusion as of now, as police are investigating the matter. I have faith in our police, who were earlier made inactive and partisan by the TMC regime.”
He also visited the hospital where Chandranath’s body was kept.
“Police are working. I spoke with the DGP; they have leads, and some people have been rounded up. I am confident the police will arrest the assailants. CID, forensic and SIT are in action, and police are heading in the right direction,” Adhikari told reporters outside the hospital.
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