Punjab Newsline | Lucknow/Ayodhya/Kolkata
Fresh revelations have surfaced in the murder case of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal leader Suvendu Adhikari, after the arrest of key accused Raj Singh from Ayodhya.
According to investigators, Raj Singh projected himself as the state general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha and allegedly maintained close contact with several politicians in Uttar Pradesh. Sources claim he had links with a state minister, a political leader from Gonda, a Jaunpur MLA, and members of a mafia network. Several photographs showing him with political figures are also circulating on social media.
Police sources revealed that Raj Singh had earlier contested a councillor election and was planning to enter local politics by contesting the Block Pramukh election from Chilkahar in Ballia district. Officials also confirmed that a murder case was already registered against him before his arrest in the current case.
Kolkata Police arrested Raj Singh from the Ayodhya-Basti highway during an operation linked to the murder probe. Two of his alleged associates — Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya — were also arrested from Bihar’s Buxar district.
Investigators believe Raj Singh played a major role in arranging shooters and providing logistical support for the murder of Chandranath Rath, who was shot dead on the night of May 6 in Madhyamgram, Kolkata.
The three accused were produced before the Barasat Court in North 24 Parganas district on Monday. The court sent all of them to 13 days of police custody for further interrogation.
Meanwhile, Raj Singh’s mother has claimed that her son is innocent and has demanded a CBI investigation into the entire matter. Kolkata Police had been conducting raids across eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the past several days before making the arrests.
