3 weeks ago
CBI charges 11, including two BJP workers, in aide's murder
Something very sad happened in a part of India called West Bengal.
A man named Chandranath Rath, who helped the state's chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, was shot and killed.
Serious detectives from an agency called the CBI investigated the case.
They say two brothers, Sagar and Sahib Sonkar, who worked in Rath's office, paid shooters from another state, Uttar Pradesh, to do the job.
The detectives think the planning started as far back as December of last year.
They have now given a list of eleven accused people to the court, which is called a charge sheet.
Six shooters and three middlemen have been arrested, but one person is still being looked for.
Detectives are also checking whether someone from a different political party helped with the plan.
Now a judge in court will decide what really happened.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against 11 accused, including two BJP workers, in the murder of Chandranath Rath, aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The accused brothers Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, who worked in Rath's office, allegedly gave the killing contract to Uttar Pradesh-based shooters.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram on May 6, two days after the West Bengal Assembly election results were declared, and the CBI took over the case on May 12.
Six shooters and three middlemen have been arrested while one accused remains absconding; the reports differ on one shooter's name (Sonu Singh vs Monu Singh).
The role of a rival political party functionary is under the scanner, and Sagar Sonkar allegedly worked for a rival party MLA until 2020 before joining the BJP.
- Who
- Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, was murdered; the CBI has charge-sheeted 11 people, including BJP workers Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar.
- What
- The CBI filed a charge sheet against 11 accused in the contract killing of Chandranath Rath.
- Where
- Madhyamgram, near Kolkata in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal; the alleged shooters were from Uttar Pradesh.
- When
- The charge sheet was filed on Thursday; Rath was shot dead on May 6, two days after the West Bengal Assembly election results were declared, and the CBI took over the probe on May 12.
- Why
- The CBI alleges Sagar Sonkar gave the contract and money to shooters to eliminate Rath, who was key to Adhikari's campaign in Bhabanipur; the role of a rival political party functionary is also under the scanner.
Trinamool Congress (TMC)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Responsibility for the killing and post-poll unrest
Trinamool Congress (TMC)
TMC condemned Rath's killing and alleged that 'BJP-backed miscreants' were involved in post-poll unrest, calling for a court-monitored CBI probe.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Adhikari called Rath's murder a 'pre-planned murder' of his aide; the CBI's charge sheet names two BJP workers among the 11 accused as alleged conspirators.
Which party's involvement is being examined
Trinamool Congress (TMC)
TMC's allegations focus on 'BJP-backed miscreants' being behind violence after the election results.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The CBI says the role of a functionary of a rival political party is under the scanner, and that Sagar Sonkar was employed with a rival party MLA until 2020 before switching to the BJP.
Key facts
- Probing agency
- Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- Victim
- Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari
- Accused in charge sheet
- 11 people, including BJP workers Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar
- Date of murder
- May 6
- Place of murder
- Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal
- Arrests so far
- Six shooters and three middlemen; one accused absconding
- Alleged plot timeline
- Planning to eliminate Rath underway since December 2025
- Probe takeover
- CBI took over from the West Bengal Police on May 12 after a state government request
Sources
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