The CBI has arrested two key suspects in the assassination plot of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s close aide Chandranath Rath. A suspected link to a leader of a rival regional political party in the state has been uncovered, officials said.
The two arrested suspects, identified as Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, are brothers, who were associates working with the deceased. The officials alleged that the investigations showed that Sagar Sonkar maintained regular contact with the office of a rival regional political party via landline calls while working with Rath. Total nine accused have been arrested so far in the case.
The CBI has so far arrested six shooters- namely 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.
Chandranath Rath, was chased, trapped and shot dead by bike-borne assailants near Kolkata airport on May 6. Rath, who had served as Adhikari’s personal assistant for nearly five years, was heading towards his Michaelnagar home in North 24 Parganas district at night when the attack took place on a relatively deserted stretch of Jessore Road, barely three kilometres from the airport.
According to eyewitnesses and police findings, eight armed men riding four motorcycles allegedly tailed Rath’s Scorpio before intercepting the vehicle near Doharia area of Madhyamgram and opening fire at close range. At least six to ten rounds were allegedly fired during the attack. The assailants reportedly wore helmets and used motorcycles without number plates to avoid identification. Police suspect that sophisticated firearms may have been used in the attack, with preliminary forensic assessments indicating the possible use of Glock 47X pistols.
The assailants reportedly had prior information about Rath’s position inside the vehicle while he was returning home.