BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday said the killing of his personal assistant (PA), Chandranath Rath, was a “pre-planned murder” and alleged that the killers had carried out “recce for two to three days”.
Rath, 41, was shot at point-blank range by unidentified assailants on a bike in Madhyamgram’s Doltala area in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday night.
Speaking to reporters outside the hospital where Rath was taken after the attack, Adhikari said the incident was a “cold-blooded murder”.
“The incident is heart-wrenching; we condemn the incident,” he said.
Adhikari said Bengal Director General of Police Siddhnath Gupta had assured him that the matter would be investigated thoroughly.
“The way the attack was executed clearly suggests that the assailants had done a recce beforehand,” he alleged.
He said that Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar, a former West Bengal BJP president, has spoken to Rath’s family.
#WATCH | North 24 Parganas | On his PA, Chandra shot dead in Madhyamgram, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari says, “This is a pre-planned murder, and this is what DGP said. A recce was done for 2-3 days and a murdered was fully planned. The police initiated investigation… We are… pic.twitter.com/XqcQR8Vz8D
— ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2026
“This is the result of 15 years of Maha-Jungle Raj… BJP will start the cleansing work of the goons here,” Adhikari, whose BJP registered a historic win in the Bengal assembly elections on Monday, said.
Suvendu Adhikari’s PA Chandranath Rath Was Followed
The attackers followed Chandranath Rath’s car, intercepted it, shot him through the rolled-up window from the opposite side and fled the scene, according to preliminary information.
Rath, originally from Chandipur in Purba Medinipur district, the political turf that shaped Adhikari’s rise in Bengal politics, was seated in the front seat next to the driver.
His driver also sustained bullet injuries and was shifted to a Kolkata hospital, where his condition is said to be critical.
Visuals showed the car’s window cracked with bullet holes.
Rath was then rushed to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
“The victim was brought dead with multiple bullet injuries on his chest, which pierced his heart, and another bullet on his abdominal area. There was no opportunity to resuscitate him,” a hospital doctor said.