4th arrest in Suvendu aide killing as CBI nabs UP sharpshooter

Kolkata/Agra: The CBI has arrested an alleged sharpshooter from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the murder of CM Suvendu Adhikari's former aide Chandranath Rath, in a breakthrough investigators believe could help unravel the logistics behind the killing in Madhyamgram.

This is the fourth arrest in the case and the first made by the CBI's Special Investigation Team. Earlier, the state SIT had arrested three accused from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.



The accused, identified as Rajkumar Singh from Chhapar in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested at a toll plaza on the Haridwar-Delhi highway on Monday. Investigators said he was intercepted around 30 km from Muzaffarnagar while allegedly trying to flee through Delhi and onward via Haridwar.

Officials said Singh was returning from Haridwar with his family when a joint CBI and local police team stopped his vehicle near the toll plaza in Muzaffarnagar's Chhapar area.

"As soon as the suspect's vehicle reached the spot, the joint team intercepted it and detained him," a source said.

After the arrest, Singh was produced before a local court, which granted the CBI transit remand. Officials said he would now be taken for further questioning.

According to CBI sources, the arrest followed a joint operation with local police on Sunday. Officers first raided a house in Delhi's Swaroop Nagar in search of Singh, but failed to locate him. He was tracked down the following day near the toll plaza and taken into custody.

The central agency has widened its probe into the May 6 shooting of Rath, a close aide to Adhikari, who was killed two days after the assembly election results were declared. Rath was travelling in the front passenger seat of a car when gunmen opened fire on a road in Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas. The driver was injured while the attackers escaped on a motorcycle. Rath was declared dead after being taken to hospital.

CBI sources said Singh's name surfaced during the interrogation of two arrested men, Mayank and Raj Singh.

Investigators have also uncovered details of what they believe was a carefully planned transport operation linked to the murder. During questioning, Mayank allegedly told the CBI that a Nissan Micra used in the crime was brought from Jharkhand to Barasat for Rs 1 lakh. He reportedly said he was hired by a Jharkhand-based handler to deliver the vehicle near Barasat's 11 Number Rail Gate.

To avoid detection, the car's number plates were allegedly changed near the Nivedita Toll Plaza in Howrah before being replaced with fake registration plates linked to the Siliguri RTO, investigators said.