New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the alleged conspirators in the assassination of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant (PA) to West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari. Rath was shot dead at close range on 6 May in Barasat.
Agency sources said the two accused, brothers Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, were in touch with the “functionaries” of a rival political party and that the agency has collected digital evidence, including call records, to establish these alleged links.
The contract for the assassination was worth several crores and the plan was hatched last December but could not be executed, they said.
It is learnt that both accused had worked closely with Rath in the past.
“We had arrested the people who had executed the murder but the ones who ordered it were still at large. This arrest is crucial because they are the key conspirators of this murder,” a source said. “Investigation has revealed that they were in regular touch with functionaries of a rival political party and the plan to assassinate him was hatched in December, early January. But they could not carry it out,” the source added.
Rath was fatally shot by motorcycle-borne assailants near Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district, soon after the declaration of West Bengal Assembly election results.
Earlier, the agency had arrested 11 accused as part of its probe into the murder, which took place just days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state, dislodging the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Rath was on his way home when his Mahindra Scorpio was intercepted near Doharia Sailesh Nagar under the Madhyamgram police station limits in Barasat police district. A silver-coloured four wheeler blocked his vehicle, forcing it to stop, after which four assailants on two motorcycles opened fire before fleeing the spot. State police had said Rath sustained three bullet injuries, including a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Days later, investigators examined digital evidence, including a UPI payment allegedly made by the contract killers at a nearby toll plaza.
Based on this lead, the state police arrested Raj Mishra, Vicky Maurya and Raj Singh from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Mishra and Maurya were arrested from Buxar, while Singh was apprehended from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.
Nearly a week later, after Adhikari was sworn in as chief minister, he handed over the investigation to the CBI. The agency registered a case under provisions relating to wrongful restraint, murder, criminal conspiracy, organised crime resulting in death, acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, and relevant sections of the Arms Act.
After taking over the probe, the CBI also arrested history-sheeter Gyanendra Pratap Singh from Ballia, who was lodged in Mau jail, in connection with Rath’s murder.
According to the FIR registered by the agency, “The instant case has been initiated on the basis of a written complaint by Shri Soumen Rath, son of Late Onkar Nath Rath, alleging that on 06.05.2026 at around 22:10 hrs, his brother Chandranath Rath was travelling in a Mahindra Scorpio when, upon reaching Doharia Sailesh Nagar, Doltala, under PS Madhyamgram, armed assailants intercepted his vehicle and indiscriminately opened fire from close range using sophisticated firearms.”
The FIR further states, “As a result, his brother sustained grievous injuries and was shifted to Vivacity Multi-Speciality Hospital, where he was later declared dead by the attending medical officer. The complainant believes that the attack was carried out by multiple persons in a highly organised and professional manner as part of a larger criminal conspiracy”
