The West Bengal Police arrested three suspects Monday in connection with the killing of Chandranath Rath, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s aide, from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Following specific intelligence leads, a specialised team detained Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya from Buxar in Bihar. Simultaneously, a third suspect, Raj Singh, was apprehended in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
Investigators believe the trio acted as out-of-state hitmen hired to carry out the murder in North 24 Parganas district’s Madhyamgram late on May 6. After intensive interrogation by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials Sunday, all three were formally placed under arrest by the Madhyamgram police. The police produced them before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) court in Barasat, which remanded them to police custody for 13 days.
The police said the breakthrough in the case came from a series of technical blunders by the perpetrators. While fleeing the scene, the suspects’ vehicle crossed the Bally toll plaza. In a critical oversight, the occupants paid the toll via UPI, allowing investigators to trace a mobile number directly linked to one of the suspects, the police said.
High-definition CCTV footage from the toll plaza confirmed the identities of the occupants and the vehicle used in the crime. The investigation also shed light on the planning involved. The police said the silver hatchback used to intercept and block Rath’s SUV was found to be a “clone”.
“The vehicle used a fake number plate linked to a legitimate car in Siliguri. It appears the suspects lifted photos from an online sales portal to replicate the registration,” a senior officer said.
This prompted a team of Bengal investigators to travel to Uttar Pradesh to investigate links between local planners and out-of-state hitmen. According to an officer, the silver car crossed the Bally toll plaza shortly before the attack, and the occupants paid the toll through UPI.
“The UPI transaction helped the investigators identify a mobile number linked to one of the suspects. CCTV footage from the toll plaza also captured images of the vehicle and its occupants,” an officer had said earlier.
While the suspected shooters are in custody, the West Bengal CID is now focusing on the “local planners”. Investigators are currently stationed in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to uncover the link between the mastermind who commissioned the hit and the arrested suspects.
The police said the motive behind the Rath’s murder remains under investigation.
Earlier, investigators had successfully identified the weapon allegedly used in the murder as an Austrian-made Glock 47X pistol, a sophisticated firearm whose use has rung alarm bells among both state and central intelligence agencies.