One of two bikes used in murder of Suvendu Adhikari’s aide found with fake number plate, chassis scrubbed
Telegraph | 8 May 2026
One of the two motorbikes used in Wednesday night’s murder of Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath has been recovered from near a tea shop nearly 4 km from the scene of crime in North 24-Parganas’ Madhyamgram.
Initial probe has revealed that like the car used in the crime, the number plate of the recovered motorbike is fake and the chassis number has also been scrubbed making it difficult to trace the owner.
The second motorbike used in the murder has still not been found.
Hitherto unidentified assailants who had been tailing him in two motorbikes and a car shot at Rath three times when he was on his way home to Madhyamgram in an SUV.
The special investigation team formed to probe the murder has also recovered CCTV footage from an apartment complex in front of which the murder took place. The time stamp on the CCTV footage revealed that the murder took place between 10pm and 10.15pm.
Sources said the assailants fled in less than a minute, hinting at the possibility of a sharpshooter engaged to carry out the attack. They also said the car had chased Rath’s SUV for nearly 7 km.
“The car trailing Rath blocked his way. Two motorbikes stopped on both sides of Rath’s vehicle and then the assailant opened fire. Some of the cartridges have been recovered and sent for examination,” said a police officer.
An eyewitness has told the cops that the assailant stayed on one of the bikes with his hand perched on the roof of Rath's vehicle. He pressed the weapon against the glass window and fired the killing shots.
The eyewitness has said the vehicle Rath was travelling in had crossed him on Jessore Road, near the spot where he was killed.
The assailants left the car and fled in the motorbikes. Witnesses informed the cops that the assailants took a narrow road from Doharia instead of continuing on Jessore Road.
Police suspect they took the road from Doharia which could lead them either towards Kolkata or in the opposite direction to Badu near Barasat in North 24-Parganas.
Rath’s driver, Buddhadeb Bera, is admitted at a private hospital. A surgery was performed on Bera on Thursday morning, but he remains very critical.
Police sources said three bullets that hit Bera have been removed, one from near the small intestine and another in his chest. A third bullet on the shoulder blade is yet to be removed.
Rath was a close aide who had been working with Adhikari for almost a decade.
“An innocent, educated youth was murdered because he was the personal assistant of Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur,” Adhikari said on Thursday morning. “He had a clean record. He was not directly linked to politics as well. He worked with the leader of Opposition in the previous government. This is a personal loss for me."
BJP leader Arjun Singh blamed the Trinamool Congress for the murder.
“This is not post-poll violence,” Singh told PTI Videos. “This is a buffer period. The government has not been formed yet. Criminals have taken advantage of this situation. By criminals, I mean, Abhishek Banerjee has taken advantage of it. An attempt has been made to send a message by murdering the PA of the most powerful leader.
“The message has been clearly sent. And they will get a response to this, they will get an answer. Just wait for some more time,” the strongman leader added.
The TMC on its part demanded a thorough probe.
“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 posted on its X (formerly Twitter) handle just after midnight.
“We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” it added.