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CBI arrests 2 BJP workers for murder of Suvendu Adhikari’s PA Chandranath Rath
The two brothers were arrested on charges that they planned the murder, starting from arranging the shooters, providing logistics and even helping them conduct the recce
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two brothers in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, agency officials said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, were Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and were part of Rath’s team.
A CBI official said the two brothers had been arrested on charges that they planned the murder, starting from arranging the shooters, providing logistics and even helping them conduct the recce.
It is alleged that the Sonkar brothers were involved in the conspiracy at the behest of a leader from a rival political party.
Rath, 41, a former Indian Air Force officer, was shot dead from close range inside his SUV on May 6 while returning to his residence in the Madhyamgram area of North 24 Parganas district.
The murder took place within 48 hours of the declaration of the West Bengal Assembly election results, triggering political and security concerns. The case was initially investigated by the West Bengal Police SIT before being transferred to the CBI owing to the sensitivity and seriousness of the crime.
A CBI official said the two suspects were detained for questioning and later arrested. On Friday, they were produced in the court and remanded in CBI custody for seven days, the official said.
Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “It is very unfortunate. Law will take its own course”.
Nine people, including six shooters and three middlemen, have been arrested in connection with the murder so far. The six shooters are Monu Singh, Raj Singh, Golu Singh, Mayank Raj Mishra, Vickey Maurya and Naveen Kumar Singh. Officials said the middlemen Vinay Rai, Sanjay Rai and Vikas Mishra had taken the contract for the murder.
News agency PTI said CBI had taken note of the phone calls between Sagar and the rival party office and is trying to identify the person with whom he was in touch. Also, it said Sagar worked with an MLA of the rival party before switching sides to the BJP in 2020.
The suspicion arose during the analysis of Sagar’s call detail records, which showed numerous calls made to the local office of the rival party, PTI said, citing unnamed officials.
The agency found that the plan to eliminate Rath, a key figure behind Adhikari’s election campaign in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur in the run-up to the 2026 Bengal polls, had been going on since December 2025, but it kept shifting for one reason or the other.
