Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in West Bengal's Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas late on Wednesday night.
The killing comes days after the BJP’s sweeping victory in the Assembly elections, where the party won 207 of the 294 seats. Follow live updates on Bengal news here.
Rath had played a key role in Adhikari’s election management in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, both constituencies Adhikari won, defeating Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee on one.
How the attack unfolded
According to BJP leader Koustav Bagchi, motorcycle-borne assailants tailed Rath’s white Scorpio SUV before intercepting it near Doharia in Madhyamgram and opening fire while he was still inside the vehicle.
Another occupant of the SUV, the driver, also sustained injuries and was initially taken to a hospital in Madhyamgram before being shifted to a Kolkata hospital for further treatment.
According to what HT has learnt, the accused fired from both sides of the white SUV. "Rath was hit in the right abdomen and left chest. The bullets pierced through the heart," doctors told the police.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said the attackers appeared to have acted with precision. “The murder seems to have been committed by professionals. Chandranath Rath, who was sitting beside the driver, was the sole target."
{{/usCountry}}A police officer, requesting anonymity, said the attackers appeared to have acted with precision. “The murder seems to have been committed by professionals. Chandranath Rath, who was sitting beside the driver, was the sole target."
{{/usCountry}}"The shots were perfectly aimed. Not a single hit the SUV's body or front windshield. A couple of bullets hit the driver as he was close to the target. The rest hit Rath's vital organs,” the officer added.
Eyewitness recounts incident
An eyewitness told news agency ANI that the attack appeared to be “pre-planned” and was carried out at “point-blank range” by a bike-borne assailant.
Recounting the sequence of events, the witness said Chandranath Rath’s car had just crossed his vehicle when it suddenly stopped on the road and a man on a motorcycle opened fire from the left side of the SUV.
“The person seemed to be an expert and fled immediately,” the eyewitness said, adding that he heard “the sound of two rounds” during the firing.
According to the witness, the incident took place between 10.30 pm and 11 pm, around 200-300 metres from the hospital. He said locals rushed the victims to the hospital after the shooting.
Suvendu Adhikari urges calm
The crowd outside the hospital swelled as BJP supporters raised slogans against the Trinamool Congress, shouting, “We will crush TMC.”
Reacting to the killing, Adhikari said the BJP was not jumping to conclusions yet, though he referred to the long history of political violence in the state.
“We are not drawing any conclusion at this moment, although it is a fact that TMC has used terror over all these years. The DGP has assured us that a proper investigation is on. He said this was a planned murder committed in cold blood. A car was used in the crime,” Adhikari said.
He appealed to party workers not to retaliate. “I request our people not to take the law into their hands and have faith in the administration. Justice will be done,” he said.
Adhikari added that investigators were still probing whether the murder had a political connection. “We think the incident may or may not be related to politics. Police have found that the murder was planned over the last three or four days. A recce was done. Our party will stand by the victim's family,” he said.
He also referred to reports of attacks on BJP workers elsewhere in the state.
“We will wait. Police have some clues. Let them investigate this murder,” Adhikari added.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul alleged a political motive behind the killing and linked it to Mamata Banerjee’s defeat in Bhabanipur. “This is perhaps a consequence of Mamata Banerjee's defeat in Bhabanipur,” she added, reported ANI.
Police probing a suspicious vehicle
Police teams have begun examining CCTV footage from cameras installed around the crime scene on Jessore Road. Shopkeepers in the area are also being questioned as investigators suspect some may have witnessed the attack.
Officials said police stations along the Bangladesh and Jharkhand border have been alerted.
West Bengal DGP Siddhinath Gupta reached the hospital soon after the incident and confirmed that investigators had seized a suspicious vehicle.
“We have seized a vehicle. A four-wheeler. It's number plate was tampered. The number belongs to a vehicle registered in Siliguri. We have recived several live cartridges and fired cartridge cases,” Gupta told reporters.
Investigators later contacted Siliguri police after tracing the registration number. Police found that the number plate belonged to another vehicle owned by a Siliguri resident named William Joseph.
Joseph reportedly informed police that his own car – a different model carrying the same registration number – was parked in his garage in Siliguri, nearly 557 km away from Madhyamgram.
Police suspect the assailants had planned the murder over several days and carried out reconnaissance before the attack.
TMC seeks CBI probe
The ruling All India Trinamool Congress condemned Rath’s killing and claimed that several TMC workers had also died in incidents of post-poll violence over the last few days.
“We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force,” the party said in a statement.
The party also demanded strict action and called for a court-monitored CBI investigation.
“We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” the statement added.
Tension grips Bengal after election results
The killing comes amid escalating political violence across West Bengal after the Assembly election results were declared on Monday.
According to officials, more than 1,500 people have been arrested across the state since Monday evening in connection with incidents linked to post-poll unrest.
Central forces were deployed outside the private hospital where Rath was taken, as well as in parts of Madhyamgram, following tensions triggered by the killing.