Chandranath Rath, one of Adhikari’s closest aides, was shot by unidentified assailants in Madhyamgram late Wednesday night.
Adhikari arrived under heavy security after his longtime aide Chandranath Rath was declared dead at a Madhyamgram hospital. (IMAGE: SOURCED)
West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari reached a hospital in Madhyamgram shortly after midnight on Thursday to visit his slain aide Chandranath Rath, who was shot dead late Wednesday evening in North 24 Parganas district.
Rath was attacked by unidentified bike and car-borne assailants late Wednesday night and succumbed to his injuries soon after. He was rushed to the hospital in Madhyamgram, where Adhikari later arrived under heavy security.
A close aide who had accompanied Adhikari through much of his political journey over the last decade, Rath sustained bullet injuries to chest and abdomen, according to police and hospital sources who spoke to CNN-News18.
Pratim Sengupta, head of the hospital where Rath was taken, said he was brought dead and could not be revived despite CPR efforts.
Preliminary investigation suggests the attack may have been carefully planned. According to sources, at least eight assailants arriving on four motorcycles were involved in the shooting, all of them wearing helmets.
Investigators are also probing the role of a car bearing a Siliguri registration code (WB 74), which allegedly intercepted Rath’s Scorpio moments before the firing. Soon after the vehicle was stopped, the attackers on motorcycles allegedly opened fire and fled the scene.
Later, West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Siddh Nath Gupta said investigators suspect the car used in the attack carried a fake registration number plate. Police are tracing the vehicle’s movement and examining CCTV footage collected from the area.
Rath’s associate, identified as Buddhadeb, also sustained multiple bullet injuries — one on the right side of his chest, one in the abdomen, and another in his right hand. Hospital officials said he remained conscious and was later referred to a Kolkata hospital for surgery.
Senior BJP leaders, including Sukanta Majumdar and Arjun Singh, also reached the hospital after news of the killing emerged.
Madhyamgram, India, India
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