CBI Takes Over Probe in Murder of WB CM Suvendu's Aide
According to the procedure, the CBI re-registers the state police FIR as its own case, which becomes the starting point for the probe
Kolkata: The newly-formed BJP government in West Bengal has entrusted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) overnight to probe the murder of chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant, Chandranath Rath, hours after the state police arrested three sharp-shooters from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and got their remand from the Barasat Court in North 24 Parganas on Monday.
Why the probe changed hands immediately after a breakthrough remains a secret as no official version was available in public from the state government on Tuesday when a CBI order dated May 11 about the takeover of the probe and formation of a team for “possible inter-state ramifications” surfaced in the morning. This is also the first case to be handed over to a central agency without any legal battle after the downfall of Trinamul Congress government.
The CBI order stated, “On transfer of investigation of FIR No. 353/2026 dated 07.05.2026 of PS-Madhyamgram and subsequent registration of a Regular Case by CBI, ACB Kolkata upon completion of requisite formalities, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising the following officers/official of various Branches of CBI is hereby constituted for investigation of the case and its possible inter-state ramifications.”
Pankaj Kumar Singh, who is CBI DIG (Special Crime-I) at New Delhi, has been made the ‘Team Leader’ of the SIT. He will be accompanied by two SPs— one from his own unit Subhash Chandra Kundu and another Anil Kumar Yadav (Anti Corruption-III) at the agency's headquarters, three DSPs— Vikash Pathak (ACB Dhanbad), Amit Kumar, (ACB Patna) and Kuldeep (ACB Ranchi) and an inspector Vivek Srivastava (ACB Lucknow).
They will work under the supervision of the CBI Joint Director, who heads the Kolkata Zone and can depute officers in the SIT from his jurisdiction as required. The major twist in the case comes after an old video purportedly of Raj Singh, one of the arrested trio, went viral in the social media. Raj, who is from Ballia in UP and a state general secretary of BJP-oriented All India Kshatriya Mahasabha, is seen in the video appealing for votes with ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan to BJP candidate, Neeraj Sekhar Singh, at Ballia Lok Sabha seat.
His mother Jamwanti Singh already denied his role in the case and alleged that he was falsely implicated in the case. According to her, Raj attended a wedding of a Member Legislative Council’s son on May 7 and returned home at night before travelling to Ayodhya with family the next morning. When the family was having lunch at an eatery while returning home, the police reached there and detained Raj.
Harivant Singh, who is lawyer of Raj, also claimed that his client was at home on May 4, 5 and 6. Meanwhile, the state police, which made the breakthrough, has found that the contract money, paid for the elimination of Rath, was about a few crores. But who made the payment to whom and when remains a mystery just like the motive behind the murder. Also, a Glock pistol, used in the shooting, is yet to be recovered.
