Chandranath Rath murder: Police suspect killers of Suvendu Adhikari’s aide might flee to Bangladesh
The Statesman | 9 May 2026
More than a day after the shocking murder of Chandranath Rath, a close aide and personal assistant of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, investigators in West Bengal are still searching for the men who opened fire on him near Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district.
The murder, carried out by bike-borne attackers on Wednesday night, has triggered a massive police operation across several border districts of the state. Officers now believe the killing may have been planned by experienced shooters hired from outside West Bengal.
According to senior police officials, the attackers appeared highly organised. The way they tracked Rath’s movements, attacked quickly, and escaped through narrow roads has raised suspicions that the shooters had carried out detailed planning before the murder.
As the investigation widened on Friday, police stations located near state borders were instructed to increase surveillance. Security checks were intensified at several locations, especially along Jessore Road, one of the major routes being examined by investigators.
Teams are now scanning hours of CCTV footage collected from nearby roads and crossings. Officers believe the recordings could help identify the motorcycle route used by the gunmen before and after the shooting.
One senior officer said investigators are trying to piece together the attackers’ movement minute by minute. Police suspect the assailants followed Rath’s vehicle before carrying out the attack at the right moment.
The search operation is not limited to Kolkata’s outskirts anymore. Detective department teams and local police have spread their investigation to nearby districts as well, hoping to trace any link between the shooters and criminal groups operating in the region.
While police suspect outside shooters may have executed the murder, investigators are also focusing on the possible role of local criminals.
Officials believe the gunmen could not have escaped so quickly without help from people familiar with the area. The attackers reportedly disappeared through small lanes shortly after the shooting, something police say would have been difficult for outsiders without local guidance.
“The escape route suggests either the shooters knew the locality very well or local criminals assisted them,” an officer involved in the probe said.
Despite the large-scale operation, no arrests had been made even 36 hours after the murder.
Investigators also traced the motorcycle believed to have been used during the attack. According to police records, the bike was registered in 2012 in the name of a resident from Burnpur in Asansol.
However, when officers visited the address mentioned in the registration papers, they reportedly found that no person by that name currently lives there.