Buxar/Kolkata: Families of two youths arrested in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, have claimed that the accused were innocent and had been falsely implicated in the high-profile case.
The West Bengal STF arrested three accused in the murder case, including two youths from Bihar’s Buxar district and another from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. All three accused were produced before the Barasat Court in North 24 Parganas on Monday, which remanded them to 13 days of police custody.
The accused from Buxar have been identified as Vicky Maurya and Mayank Mishra, both residents of areas near PC College behind Buxar railway station.
Vicky’s mother, Neelam Devi, broke down while speaking to reporters and claimed her son was a minor who had no criminal background.
“My son used to do household work and had no case against him. He was trapped after speaking to a friend on the phone. Please release him,” she said while crying.
She added that Vicky had been working in Mumbai and had recently returned home after falling ill.
Vicky’s father, Gautam Maurya, who runs a medicine shop in Buxar, said he came to know about his son’s arrest through media reports. According to him, Vicky had left home on May 7 with Rs 2,000, saying he was travelling to Mumbai for work.
“He had studied till matriculation and earlier worked as a data entry operator in a company associated with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project,” Gautam claimed.
He also alleged that local police detained him and his mentally disturbed son for nearly 30 hours during questioning regarding Vicky’s whereabouts.
“They kept asking where Vicky was. All our mobile phones were seized. I told them how could I contact him when the phones were with the police,” he said, adding that police did not assault them but allegedly denied medicines to his other son despite showing medical prescriptions.
Gautam maintained that Vicky had no prior criminal record and blamed his friendship with Mayank Mishra for his involvement in the matter.
At Mayank Mishra’s residence, his grandfather Raj Dayal Mishra said the family learned about the arrest only through media reports. He said Mayank’s father works as a contractor in Ranchi and that the youth rarely visited Buxar.
“He came here around 10 days ago and then left again. Police conducted a raid at our house two days ago. Later we learned through the media that he had been arrested in connection with a case in West Bengal,” he said.
Raj Dayal admitted that Mayank had previously gone to jail in a local assault case near Maharaja Petrol Pump in Buxar about a year ago. He said the family knew that Mayank had learned computer-related work in Ranchi.
According to investigators, the West Bengal STF conducted raids in three police station areas of Buxar on Sunday night as part of the probe into Rath’s murder.
Police suspect that at least eight people were involved in the conspiracy and execution of the killing. Investigators believe the attackers conducted surveillance on Rath for several days before carrying out the attack.
Chandranath Rath, 42, was shot dead on May 6 at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas, two days after the West Bengal election results. Assailants allegedly intercepted his Scorpio SUV and fired multiple rounds at close range, hitting him in the chest and abdomen. His driver was also injured in the attack.
Investigators suspect the involvement of a professional interstate gang. Police sources said fake number plates were used on both the bike and car involved in the attack. The chassis and engine numbers of one seized vehicle had also allegedly been erased.
The investigation reportedly gained momentum after police traced a mobile number linked to a UPI payment made at Bali Toll Plaza before the murder. CCTV footage from toll plazas and surrounding areas is now being matched with the identities of the arrested accused.
Several media reports claimed the attackers first intercepted Rath’s vehicle using a silver Nissan Micra car, while bike-borne shooters opened fire. After the attack, the accused allegedly fled in a red-coloured car and motorcycles.
Sources associated with the investigation claimed that a contract of Rs 30-40 lakh may have been given for the murder. Investigators are probing the funding angle and possible links with criminal gangs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Buxar SP Shubham Arya confirmed that two persons had been arrested from the district by the West Bengal Police but declined to share further details, citing the sensitivity of the case.
Chandranath Rath was a former Air Force officer who later joined politics after taking voluntary retirement. He had worked closely with Suvendu Adhikari since the latter’s days in the Trinamool Congress and was considered one of his trusted aides.
