UP sharpshooters held in Chandranath Rath murder to be produced in court

Three alleged sharpshooters arrested from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the assassination of Chandranath Rath — close aide and personal assistant to senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari — will be produced before a district court in Barasat on Monday as investigators intensify their probe into the sensational killing.

The trio was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal Police, which has been probing the murder that sent shockwaves through the state’s political landscape just days after the assembly election results.

Sources in the state police said the prosecution would seek police custody of the accused for detailed interrogation regarding the conspiracy, logistics and possible masterminds behind the assassination.

Investigators, however, have chosen to keep the identities of the arrested sharpshooters under wraps until they are formally presented in court and remanded to police custody. Officials have also declined to disclose the exact location in Uttar Pradesh from where the accused were picked up.

According to sources, the three men were quietly brought to Kolkata late Sunday night and taken directly to Bhabani Bhavan, the state police headquarters in south Kolkata, where they were interrogated through the night.

Rath was gunned down on the night of 6 May, barely two days after the results of the fiercely contested West Bengal Assembly elections were declared. The BJP secured victory in 207 constituencies, reducing the ruling All India Trinamool Congress to just 80 seats.

Police said Rath was returning home to Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas district after attending a party programme when his vehicle was intercepted at a crossing by a four-wheeler.

Preliminary investigation revealed that two motorcycles had been tailing Rath’s car for a considerable distance before the attack.

As Rath’s vehicle slowed after being blocked by the four-wheeler, one of the motorcycles pulled up alongside. The pillion rider allegedly opened fire from point-blank range, pumping around 10 bullets into Rath.

Rath died on the spot, while his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, sustained critical injuries. Police sources said Bera’s condition has since improved significantly.

Investigators later discovered that the registration numbers used on the four-wheeler and the two motorcycles involved in the operation were fake, indicating meticulous planning behind the attack.

Adhikari has alleged that Rath was targeted because of his political association with him, claiming the killing would not have happened had Rath not been the aide of the leader who defeated chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the Bhabanipur constituency by a margin of over 15,000 votes.

The SIT is now probing whether the assassination was a contract killing linked to political rivalry and is trying to identify those who financed and orchestrated the operation.

With IANS inputs