3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 1, 2026 04:09 AM IST
In what is likely to raise a political storm in West Bengal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two BJP workers, who were earlier with the Trinamool Congress, in connection with the murder of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath.
CBI sources said the investigation has revealed that the two accused arrested now had allegedly hired the shooters who killed Rath.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on May 6, shortly after the BJP swept the Assembly polls in Bengal, defeating the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which had been in power in Bengal since 2011.
According to CBI officials, the arrested persons have been identified as Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, who had been working with Rath. “The probe has revealed that both the arrested men were earlier with Trinamool Congress and later shifted to BJP. But they were still in touch with some members of Trinamool. Investigation showed that he (Sagar Sonkar) was in contact with the office of a rival political party via landline calls while working with Rath,” an official said.
The two have been arrested in West Bengal and CBI officials are likely to produce them before a special court in Kolkata and seek their custody.
The case, earlier probed by Bengal Police, is now with the CBI. The central agency has registered a case under multiple sections, including murder and criminal conspiracy.
Earlier, Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya from Bihar, and Vinay Rai, Gyanendra Singh, Navin Singh, Golu Singh and Raj Kumar Singh from Uttar Pradesh were arrested in connection with the murder.
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On the night of May 6, Rath was returning to his home in Madhyamgram in an SUV. He was barely 100 metres from his home when a car blocked the road, a bike pulled next to the SUV, and assailants fired nearly 10 shots at Rath through the SUV’s rolled-up window. He died soon after.
A former Indian Air Force officer, Rath was a close aide of Adhikari from the time he was in the Trinamool Congress. When Adhikari moved to the BJP in 2020, he made Rath his personal assistant. After the 2021 election, Adhikari was named the Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly and Rath became his executive assistant.