KOLKATA — Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant to West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in Madhyamgram on Wednesday night, just two days after the BJP’s historic win in the state assembly election.
Investigators said a car carrying a fake number plate first blocked Rath’s vehicle. Attackers then arrived on a motorcycle and shot Rath three times. The killing took place at about 10:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Rath’s car was first stopped near Doltala in Madhyamgram.
The car with the fake plate forced Rath’s vehicle to stop in the middle of the road, and the attackers fired at least four shots at him, according to investigators.
The attackers then abandoned the car with the fake number plate and fled on motorcycles.
A doctor at the local hospital told PTI that Rath was brought in dead. He had been shot in the chest and the heart.
The doctor said the victim was brought in dead, with two bullet wounds in the chest, one of which pierced the heart, and another bullet that lodged in his abdomen. There was no chance of saving him, the doctor said. A witness said the attackers appeared to be professionals.
The witness told NDTV that Rath’s car had just passed him when it suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and a person on a motorcycle opened fire on the left side of the vehicle. The attackers looked like professionals, he said.
He also said he heard two rounds of gunfire, and the attack occurred between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Based on the initial investigation, the attackers used four motorcycles and one car in the killing.
West Bengal Director General of Police Siddha Nath Gupta said the car used to block Rath’s vehicle has been seized, but the number plate on it was fake, and the number plates on the motorcycles were also fake.
Sophisticated weapons used in attack
Police believe the attackers used sophisticated weapons. A police officer told PTI that the attackers likely used Glock 47X pistols.
A senior West Bengal police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such weapons are not typically used by ordinary criminals. “We are investigating whether professional shooters were involved in this attack,” the officer said.
Gupta said police recovered spent shells and live rounds from the scene. The motive for the attack is not yet clear, he said.
Attackers waited 40 minutes
Rath served as Adhikari’s personal assistant and lived in a residential complex in Doharia, Madhyamgram.
Witnesses said the attackers waited 40 minutes for Rath. He used a Scorpio SUV that carried a West Bengal Legislative Assembly sticker, making it easy for the attackers to identify.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report