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Rath spent Wednesday urging BJP workers in his hometown to avoid post-poll violence before he was ambushed hours later in Madhyamgram.
A damaged glass window of a vehicle after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath was shot at from close range by unidentified assailants. (IMAGE: PTI)
West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath had a busy Wednesday in his native village. Coming on the back of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) maiden landslide victory in West Bengal, the man often described by party workers as Suvendu’s shadow spent much of the day urging cadres to stay calm amid sporadic incidents of post-poll violence.
Violence had erupted in parts of West Bengal after the Assembly election results were declared on May 4, with the BJP and the Trinamool Congress accusing each other of fuelling unrest. Several BJP leaders, including state party chief Shamik Bhattacharya, appealed to workers not to engage in violence and warned of action against those violating party instructions.
Rath was doing much the same in his hometown of Chandipur in East Midnapore.
“Dada has requested you all to stay calm and not indulge or resort to any violence,” he told local party workers earlier in the day, referring to his boss, Adhikari, as dada.
Hours later, Rath himself would become the victim of violence.
How The Attack Unfolded
According to preliminary information accessed by CNN-News18, Chandranath Rath was returning to his residence in Madhyamgram late Wednesday night when the attack took place.
As the Scorpio slowed down, multiple assailants arriving on motorcycles allegedly opened fire at close range before fleeing the scene.
Police sources told News18 the attack appeared to have been carefully planned.
Investigators suspect at least eight assailants travelling on four motorcycles were involved in the shooting. All of them were allegedly wearing helmets.
Investigators are also probing the role of a car bearing a Siliguri registration code (WB 74), which allegedly intercepted Rath’s vehicle moments before the firing. Later, West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Siddh Nath Gupta said investigators suspect the car carried a fake number plate.
Soon after the firing, Rath and his driver, Buddhadev Bera, were rushed to a hospital in Madhyamgram.
Hospital head Pratim Sengupta said Rath sustained two bullet injuries on the left side of his chest and was brought dead.
“He could not be revived even with CPR,” Sengupta said.
Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained three bullet injuries — one on the right side of his chest, another in the abdomen and one in his right hand. He was later shifted to Apollo Multispeciality Hospital in Kolkata for surgery and remains conscious, hospital sources said.
BJP Leaders Rush To Hospital
News of the killing quickly triggered panic and tension in the area, with a large crowd gathering outside the hospital in Madhyamgram late into the night.
Several BJP leaders and MLAs, including Sukanta Majumdar, Arjun Singh, Shankar Ghosh, Piyush Kanoria, Kaustav Bagchi and state BJP vice-president Raju Banerjee, rushed to the hospital after learning about the shooting.
Suvendu Adhikari also reached the hospital shortly after midnight.
Calling the killing a “cold-blooded murder”, Adhikari alleged that Rath had been deliberately targeted and demanded strict action against those responsible.
Police said CCTV footage from the area is being examined and an investigation into the killing is underway.
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