2 BJP workers among 11 named in CBI charge sheet for murder of Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari's aide

The CBI recently arrested BJP workers, Sagar Sonkar and his brother, working in Rath’s office for allegedly giving contract for his killing to UP based shooters

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against 11 accused people, including two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, in connection with the killing of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath, officials said Thursday.

The CBI has also come to know that Sagar, till 2020, was employed with the MLA of the rival political party before switching sides to the BJP. (Representational Photo/ ANI Video Grab)

The CBI had recently arrested the BJP workers, Sagar Sonkar and his brother Sahib Sonkar, working in Rath’s office for allegedly giving the contract for his killing to Uttar Pradesh-based shooters. The role of a functionary of a rival political party in the state is also under the scanner, they said.

The CBI has also come to know that Sagar, till 2020, was employed with the MLA of the rival political party before switching sides to the BJP, they said. The agency found that the planning to eliminate Rath, who was key behind Adhikari’s campaign in Bhabanipur constituency, had been underway since December 2025, but the date to execute the contract kept shifting for one reason or the other.

It is alleged that Sagar gave the contract and the money to the shooter for the execution of the murder, they said.

Rath, the personal assistant to Adhikari, was shot dead in Madhyamgram on May 6, two days after the declaration of the fiercely contested West Bengal Assembly poll results.

The CBI has so far arrested six shooters--Monu Singh, Raj Singh, Golu Singh, Mayank Raj Mishra, Vickey Maurya and Naveen Kumar Singh, besides middlemen Vinay Rai, Sanjay Rai and Vikas Mishra who took the contract, they said.

One accused remains absconding, they said.