West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu's aide shot dead; post-poll violence escalates

West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath was shot dead in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday night, escalating the post-poll violence in the state. The murder, which the BJP described as a “targeted assassination”, has triggered widespread outrage and protests.

Less than 48 hours after the declaration of the fiercely fought assembly poll results, the killing sent shockwaves through Bengal's political circles, with the BJP accusing the TMC of unleashing retaliatory violence and the latter countering with allegations of attacks on its own workers across several districts.

According to preliminary information, Rath was intercepted near Doltala in Madhyamgram around 10.30 pm by motorcycle-borne assailants who tailed his vehicle, forced it to stop and opened fire before fleeing.

Eyewitnesses claimed the vehicle carrying Rath was first blocked near Doharia junction by a small four-wheeler, after which a motorcycle rider approached the SUV and started firing from close range. The occupants of the four-wheeler later abandoned the vehicle and escaped on the motorcycle.

Rath, who served as the executive assistant to the leader of opposition in the state assembly, was returning to his residence in Madhyamgram when the attack took place.

Doctors at the hospital where he was taken said he was brought dead. Meanwhile, Rath's driver, who suffered bullet injuries during the attack, was shifted to a Kolkata hospital in critical condition.

Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and a top contender for the Chief Minister post, reached the hospital around midnight and described the incident as “heart-wrenching” and alleged that the assailants had conducted a recce before carrying out the attack.

Adhikari, however, stopped short of directly naming any organisation behind the attack and appealed to party workers not to take the law into their own hands.

“We don't want to draw any conclusion as of now, as the police are investigating the matter,” he said.

The leader of opposition also alleged that attacks on BJP workers were continuing in several districts after the poll results.

“While we were here, one of our cadre was shot at in Basirhat, and another was stabbed in Baranagar,” he claimed.

Launching a sharp attack on the outgoing TMC government, Adhikari termed the prevailing situation in Bengal “Mahajungle Raj”.

“This is the result of 15 years of Mahajungle Raj in Bengal,” he alleged.

The TMC condemned the killing and demanded a court-monitored CBI probe.

In a statement, the ruling party alleged that three TMC workers had also been killed in separate incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by “BJP-backed miscreants” over the last three days.

The killing comes at a time when Bengal remains volatile after one of the most bitterly fought assembly elections in recent years, with both the BJP and the TMC accusing each other of intimidation, attacks and retaliatory violence in several districts.

DGP Siddhnath Gupta said police recovered cartridges from the crime scene and seized the small car allegedly used during the attack.

Police sources said forensic teams collected samples from the vehicle while investigators scanned CCTV footage from nearby areas to reconstruct the sequence of events and identify the assailants.

Barasat police district SP Pushpa said efforts were underway to ascertain the motive behind the killing.