CBI arrests two in Chandranath Rath murder probe
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested two brothers, Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, in Kolkata. The arrests were made as part of the agency’s probe into the alleged assassination plot, which investigators now believe may have links to a functionary of a rival political party.The two accused, who had worked with Rath, are expected to be produced before a special court in Kolkata later on Friday, officials said.Investigators alleged that Sagar Sonkar maintained regular contact with the office of a rival political party through landline calls while working with Rath. The agency is now examining those communications to identify the individual with whom he was allegedly in touch.According to officials, analysis of Sagar’s call detail records revealed numerous calls made to the local office of the rival party. The CBI has also learnt that until 2020, Sagar had worked with an MLA of that party before later switching to the BJP.Officials said the agency had gathered sufficient material linking Sagar to the shooters allegedly hired to kill Rath. He is accused of arranging the contract and providing money for the execution of the murder.The CBI believes the conspiracy to eliminate Rath had been in motion since December 2025 and that the plan was repeatedly delayed before it was finally carried out.Rath, who served as Adhikari’s personal assistant and was considered a key figure behind his election campaign in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, was shot dead on Jessore Road near Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district on May 6. He was travelling in a car when motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire.The killing took place two days after the declaration of results in the fiercely contested Bengal Assembly election, which saw the BJP defeat the Trinamool Congress and come to power in the state.
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The CBI has so far arrested six alleged shooters identified as Monu Singh, Raj Singh, Golu Singh, Mayank Raj Mishra, Vickey Maurya and Naveen Kumar Singh, along with middlemen Vinay Rai, Sanjay Rai and Vikas Mishra, who are alleged to have facilitated the contract. One accused remains absconding.The central agency took over the investigation from the West Bengal Police after a request from the state government. A seven-member special investigation team headed by a Deputy Inspector General from the CBI’s Special Crime unit in Delhi has been constituted to investigate the case.
