KOLKATA: Fresh CCTV footage has surfaced in the chilling murder of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s close aide Chandranath Rath, capturing two helmeted suspects fleeing on a motorcycle minutes after the deadly shooting near Madhyamgram on Wednesday night.
Rath’s vehicle was intercepted near Doharia between Doltala and Madhyamgram Chowmatha around 10.15 pm by motorcycle-borne gunmen who allegedly opened fire at point-blank range before fleeing, according to investigators.
Police said the number plate attached to the abandoned car was fake and linked to a person in Siliguri associated with a tea estate. We are probing whether professional shooters or contract killers were involved,” a senior police officer said. Police suspect the attackers executed the operation in a coordinated manner. Preliminary findings indicate that a small four-wheeler first blocked Rath’s SUV near Doharia junction, slowing it down, before shooters on motorcycles moved in and fired multiple rounds from close range. Officers also found that the vehicle’s chassis and engine numbers had been erased, strengthening suspicions that the murder was meticulously planned. “A weapon of this nature is generally not used by ordinary criminals.
West Bengal Police on Thursday formed multiple teams to trace the assailants, while officers of the CID joined the probe.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the IG CID and comprising officers from CID, IB and Bengal STF has now been formed to investigate the murder.
Another CCTV clip that surfaced during the investigation reportedly shows Rath’s white Scorpio SUV entering a narrow lane, before the assailants opened fire just metres from his home.