Kolkata, Sep 15 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday that the “nephew-gang” (indirectly referring to Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s involvement) was behind the murder of his former Personal Assistant late Chandranath Rath in May this year.
His explosive comment comes on the day, when Hasirani Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, filed her nomination as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Nandigram Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district which is scheduled on October 6.
Chandranath was shot dead at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district of the state on the evening of May 6 this year, just two days after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections were declared which marked a landslide defeat of the Trinamool Congress.
Although the Chief Minister did not directly name anybody, but by using the term “nephew-gang” he clearly indicated about the Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“I have received specific information that the ‘nephew-gang’ was behind Chandranath’s murder. Contract killers were hired at Rs 2 crore for the assassination. I have heard multiple call recordings which clearly show that the ‘nephew-gang’ was behind the assassination conspiracy,” Chief Minister Adhikari said.
He also added that Chandranath Rath, a retired Indian Air Force serviceman, had to meet the tragic end just because he was his principal aide while he was the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly.
On his way back home to Madhyamgram, Chandranath Rath was shot at from a point black range.
Although the West Bengal Police started the initial investigation, later the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe.
So far, seven persons have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Chandranath’s murder. However, there is confusion about who is behind it.
