New Delhi: The Personal Assistant (PA) of West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was shot and killed in Madhyamgram, just two days after the party secured a landmark victory in the state assembly elections.
The victim, identified as Chandranath Rath, was struck by three of four bullets fired at him while travelling in a moving vehicle. According to reports, the attackers trailed his car and opened fire once it reduced speed.
The vehicle’s left front window was visibly damaged by bullet impacts. Rath had served under Adhikari for several years, managing the BJP leader’s political coordination and related responsibilities, and was regarded as a trusted member of his close circle.
Adhikari rushed to the hospital in Madhyamgram, where his PA’s body had been kept by police. Rath’s driver, identified as Buddhadeb, sustained injuries in the attack and was also hospitalised. The incident took place within an assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, on the outskirts of Kolkata. Adhikari himself was not present at the scene during the attack.
Speaking outside the hospital, Adhikari described the killing as a premeditated murder carried out in cold blood, alleging that the assailants had conducted prior surveillance of the target before executing the attack. He said the incident had left him deeply distressed, and that the BJP condemned it in the strongest terms.
He added that Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar had already reached out to Rath’s family. Adhikari further alleged that the killing was a consequence of what he termed prolonged misrule in the state, and warned that the BJP would take steps to rid the region of criminal elements following its electoral success.
The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, condemned the murder, simultaneously alleging that individuals affiliated with or posing as BJP supporters had been engaged in post-poll violence over the preceding three days.
“We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force,” the party said in a statement, and called for a court-monitored CBI investigation.
“We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” the statement added.
The BJP, for its part, separately alleged that TMC workers disguised as BJP members were attempting to provoke further unrest. Scattered incidents of groups vandalising public property were also reported on social media videos circulating on the same day.
