The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the probe into the murder of Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who was targeted and killed in a brutal ambush on May 6 in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas.

A seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by DIG Pankaj Kumar Singh, has been formed to probe the Rath murder case. The Central agency has registered a regular case, taking over FIR No. 353/2026 registered at the Madhyamgram Police Station.

Three key suspects, including Raj Singh alias Chandan Singh, a Ballia-based sharpshooter and General Secretary of the social association Kshatriya Mahasabha, were arrested in a joint operation by the police of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

Singh, who has a prior criminal record involving the 2020 murder of an egg dealer, was out on bail at the time of Rath’s killing. Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya, both residents of Buxar district, Bihar, were apprehended following the deployment of technical intelligence.

Rath was returning to his home when his SUV was intercepted by another four-wheeler on May 6. Simultaneously, motorcycle-borne assailants approached from both sides and unleashed a volley of gunfire, killing Rath on the spot. His driver sustained serious injuries and remains hospitalised.