Chandranath Rath Murder: Vehicle from Jharkhand, Fake Number from Bengal

Kolkata (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation has found that the four-wheeler used in the murder of Chandranath Rath was brought from Jharkhand and later fitted with a fake number plate in West Bengal.

Investigators reached this conclusion during the preliminary probe into the killing of Rath, who served as the personal assistant to Suvendu Adhikari.

According to sources, Mayank Raj Mishra, one of the three arrested suspects, told investigators that a Jharkhand-based individual hired him to transport the vehicle from Jharkhand to Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, close to the site of the murder at Madhyamgram.

Mishra reportedly told the CBI that he drove the vehicle from Jharkhand to Barasat and replaced its original number plate with a fake one at an abandoned spot near the Barasat rail gate. The original registration number belongs to a vehicle registered with the Regional Transport Office in Siliguri in Darjeeling district.

He also allegedly confessed that he received Rs 1 lakh for delivering the vehicle. After handing over the car in Barasat, he travelled to Howrah Station, boarded a train, and went to Buxar, where police arrested him.

Assailants shot Chandranath Rath dead on the night of May 6, two days after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections were announced on May 4.

Rath was returning home from a party programme when the four-wheeler brought from Jharkhand blocked his vehicle at a crossing in Madhyamgram. Investigators believe two motorcycles had been tailing Rath’s car for some time.

Once Rath’s vehicle stopped, one of the motorcycles pulled alongside it. The rider allegedly fired ten rounds at close range.

Rath died on the spot, while his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, suffered critical injuries. He is now recovering.

Suvendu Adhikari said Rath was targeted because he worked as the personal assistant to the leader who defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency by more than 15,000 votes.