A CCTV video has surfaced showing the final moments before the murder of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. In the footage, Rath’s white Scorpio SUV can be seen at around the 0:18-second mark heading towards the area where he was later shot dead.
Police are examining the CCTV footage as part of the investigation into the killing.
Rath was shot dead at point blank range on Wednesday night by bike-borne assailants near Kolkata airport. As pereyewitness accounts, Rath was heading towards his Michaelnagar home in North 24 Parganas district around 10.20 pm when the incident took place. The murder was carried out on a deserted stretch of Jessore Road, barely three kilometres from the airport.
The BJP has said that the murder appeared pre-planned, withSuvendu Adhikarisaying that the attackers hadreccedthe place before carrying out the murder.
The police said that a silver Nissan Car blocked Rath's SUV, forcing the vehicle to halt. Moments later, around 8 assailants on four motorcycles pulled up alongside and opened fire indiscriminately. Rath suffered bullet injuries to his chest and stomach, while his driver Buddhadeb Bera was hit in the chest, abdomen and leg. The attackers fled immediately after the firing. Locals rushed both men to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared Rath dead. Bera was later shifted to another medical facility and remains critical.
A senior police officer also pointed out that sophisticated firearms were used in carrying out the murder, indicating the possible use of Glock 47X pistols. "Weapons like these are not commonly used in routine crimes. We are probing whether professional hitmen were involved," a senior West Bengal Police officer told PTI, on condition of anonymity.
Rath'smotherhas demanded life imprisonment for the assailants. Speaking to reporters, she said, "I want the guilty to be punished. I am a mother, I do not want them to be hanged. I want life imprisonment for them. They did this because the BJP came to power. Our state president and leaders are repeatedly saying to maintain law and order in the state. But those from the ruling party who were making various provocative comments, who were saying that after the 4th, the fathers of Delhi will not be able to save us, so after the 4th, they showed it."
She added, "If my son had died in an accident, I would not have been so sad. The way the miscreants tortured and killed my son, these are all stories made up by the Trinamool. Since Suvendu Babu defeated Mamata Banerjee, my family has faced such a danger."
Diana George is Associate Editor at Times Now, with over a decade of experience covering national and international news, crime, and local politics. S...View More
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