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.The 49-second footage, now under detailed examination by investigators, carries a timestamp of around 10.10pm, close to the time when Rath was gunned down near his residence on Wednesday night.
Sources said the video shows a motorcycle with two men riding in the reverse direction shortly after the shooting.Investigators believe the visuals could help reconstruct the escape route used by the attackers and identify vehicles involved in what officials suspect was a carefully planned operation.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.Officials probing the murder said the footage is being analysed frame by frame alongside surveillance videos collected from nearby roads, intersections and residential pockets.West Bengal Police on Thursday formed multiple teams to trace the assailants, while officers of the CID joined the probe. A forensic team also visited the crime scene and collected samples.“Going by the circumstantial evidence, it appears the murder was pre-planned. CCTV footage from the area is being examined and several teams are working on different leads,” a senior officer said.According to investigators, 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.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.Rath, 42, suffered fatal bullet injuries to the chest and abdomen and was declared brought dead at a nearby private hospital. His driver, Buddhadeb Bera, also sustained gunshot wounds and remains in critical condition at a Kolkata hospital after undergoing surgeries.Cops said the attackers later abandoned the small car used in the operation and escaped on motorcycles in different directions. One route is believed to have led towards Jessore Road, while another may have passed through a narrow lane connecting to Rajarhat.
The vehicle of Chandranath Rath with bullet injury.
Police said the number plate attached to the abandoned car was fake and linked to a person in Siliguri associated with a tea estate. Officers also found that the vehicle’s chassis and engine numbers had been erased, strengthening suspicions that the murder was meticulously planned.Live ammunition, empty cartridges and bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene and nearby streets. Preliminary forensic assessment suggests sophisticated Glock 47X pistols may have been used in the attack.“A weapon of this nature is generally not used by ordinary criminals. We are probing whether professional shooters or contract killers were involved,” a senior police officer said.Eyewitnesses claimed some men on motorcycles had been waiting in the locality before the shooting. One resident said Rath returned home at roughly the same time every night in the same vehicle carrying a West Bengal Assembly sticker.The killing, which came less than 48 hours after the declaration of the Bengal assembly election results, triggered sharp political reactions and protests by BJP workers demanding immediate arrests.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.
