Suvendu Adhikari’s PA murder: Fifth accused arrested from Varanasi as CBI widens probe
The Statesman | 21 May 2026
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a fifth accused in the murder case of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. The accused, identified as Vinay Rai, was arrested in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
The arrest comes as the central agency continues to tighten its investigation into what it suspects was a planned and organised killing involving multiple people across states. The case has already seen arrests from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with investigators invoking charges related to murder, criminal conspiracy and organised crime.
Rath, a former Indian Air Force personnel, was shot near Madhyamgram on the outskirts of Kolkata late on May 6. He later died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Just days before Rai’s arrest, the CBI, along with Muzaffarnagar Police, had arrested Rajkumar, who investigators believe was the main shooter in the case. According to CBI sources, Rajkumar was picked up from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and later brought on transit remand.
The agency is probing the possibility of a wider conspiracy behind the murder. The FIR was registered by the CBI after the case was transferred from the West Bengal Police following notifications issued by both the West Bengal government and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
After taking over the probe, the CBI re-registered the matter under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 103(1) related to murder, Section 61(1) dealing with criminal conspiracy and Section 111(2)(a) linked to organised crime. Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act have also been added.
The case was registered based on a complaint filed by Rath’s brother, who alleged that the killing appeared to be the result of a professionally executed conspiracy involving several unidentified persons.
Earlier, three accused identified as Mayank Raj Mishra, Vicky Maurya and Raj Singh were arrested from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
A Kolkata court remanded all three to police custody till May 24.
Public Prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said the prosecution had also sought the addition of charges related to destruction of evidence, which the court accepted.
“Three persons have been arrested, and the court has sent them to police custody till May 24, i.e., 13 days of police custody. We also sought for the addition of the section relating to the destruction of evidence, which has been added by the court,” Chatterjee told reporters.