Murder probe uncovers multi-state contract-killing plot targeting Suvendu Adhikari

Chandranath Rath was never meant to die on that Madhyamgram road. Police now believe the former IAF officer was shot dead because he got caught in an alleged contract-killing plot aimed at Suvendu Adhikari, and the case has quickly stretched far beyond one killing.

Rath was gunned down near Doltala in North 24 Parganas on May 6, 2026, around 10.20 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., after bike-borne assailants intercepted his vehicle and fired at point-blank range. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. Rath had long been one of Adhikari’s most trusted aides, and the BJP leader called the killing a “pre-planned murder” and a “personal loss,” while saying police were “heading in the right direction” and later demanding the death penalty for the killers.

What has sharpened the case is the trail left by the getaway vehicles. Police sources say a silver-coloured Nissan Micra was used to block Rath’s Scorpio, and the car carried a fake registration plate. That number was traced to William Joseph, a Siliguri-area vehicle owner who had posted the car for sale online. Joseph was questioned and later found to have no connection to the murder. Investigators also recovered a red hatchback seen on CCTV tailing Rath’s SUV before the attack, and they have now seized two motorbikes linked to the escape, one near Barasat railway station and another near airport gate 2.5.

The probe has moved into the territory of a larger conspiracy. Police believe at least seven to eight people were involved, with more than a dozen already detained or questioned. A seven-member Special Investigation Team, backed by about 40 police personnel, is handling the case, while forensic experts from Gujarat inspected the crime scene. Police said no usable fingerprints were found in the assassins’ vehicles, a detail that fits the theory of a professional hit rather than a spur-of-the-moment assault.

Investigators are also looking beyond West Bengal. Sources say the network may have links in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, with possible support from local criminals for route knowledge and logistics. They are examining whether the killers used social media to coordinate, and a UPI payment at a toll booth near Kolkata has emerged as one of the digital breadcrumbs helping track the suspects’ movements alongside CCTV footage.

The murder has landed in the middle of an already combustible political climate in West Bengal, where post-poll violence has kept tensions high and rival parties have traded accusations. With the line between political violence and contract killing now looking increasingly blurred, the Rath case has become something bigger than a roadside assassination.