Kolkata, May 7:
In a shocking development within 48 hours of the West Bengal assembly poll verdict, Chandranath Rath, a close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in a brazen, point-blank attack in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday, triggering sharp political reactions and escalating tension in the area.
According to preliminary information, Rath was intercepted at Madhyamgram’s Doltala area by motorcycle-borne assailants, who tailed his vehicle, forced it to stop and opened fire before fleeing.
Rath, the executive assistant to the leader of opposition in the state assembly, was reportedly returning home in Madhyagram when he was murdered.
Local news channels reported that he sustained critical injuries in the firing and was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, the official media channel of the BJP said.
“The victim was brought dead with two bullet injuries on his chest, which pierced his heart, and another bullet hit his abdominal area. There was no opportunity to resuscitate him,” a doctor said.
Adhikari arrived at the hospital around midnight.
Rath, according to party sources, played a crucial role in Adhikari’s campaigns in the Bhabanipur constituency, where the BJP leader triumphed over former chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
The killing triggered an immediate political storm, with BJP leaders calling it a “targeted assassination” and accusing the Trinamool Congress leadership, including Banerjee, of fostering lawlessness, and the TMC hitting back with a demand for a court-monitored CBI probe.
The Trinamool Congress also condemned the killing of Rath. “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.
“We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI probe so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay,” it said.
Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy, and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest, the statement added.
As news of the killing spread, hundreds of BJP supporters gathered outside the hospital, shouting slogans against the ruling TMC and demanding the immediate arrest of those behind the attack.