On the night of 6th May, Chandranath Rath, the personal secretary and close aide of West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead by unidentified assailants who intercepted his car in the North 24 Parganas district. Rath’s driver, Buddhadeb Bera, also suffered serious bullet injuries and was rushed to a hospital in Kolkata. Bera has undergone multiple surgeries, and his condition remains critical.
North Kolkata district BJP president Tamoghan Ghosh is reported to be taking care of Bera’s medical treatment.
After the attack on Wednesday night, Buddhadeb Bera was shifted to a hospital adjacent to the EM Bypass in Kolkata in a critical condition. He underwent surgery there on Thursday morning. As per reports, Buddhadeb Bera was hit by 3 bullets in total, but the doctors were able to remove 2 bullets during the surgery.
Bera was shot in the right hand, liver and lung. The bullets from the liver and lung have been removed, but the bullet lodged at his right hand near the shoulder was not removed as his health deteriorated. Doctors will perform another surgery to remove the remaining bullet in the next 48 hours. Hospital sources said that his condition is critical, but he is currently in the ICU in full life support under the supervision of doctors.
Meanwhile, the dead body of Chandranath Rath was moved to the Barasat Medical College morgue before autopsy. Forensic officers collected samples from the car in which Chandranath was travelling. Blood spots were found on both the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat. The police have still cordoned off the crime scene in Madhyamgram. Police will take Buddhadeb Bera’s statement after he recovers and doctors give the green signal.
As reported earlier, amidst rising political tensions after the BJP’s victory in the West Bengal assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari’s aide, Chandranath Rath, was shot dead in North 24 Parganas district.
Rath was attacked in the Doharia area of Madhyamgram around 10:20 pm. Reports said that Rath was returning home to Barasat when around eight motorcycle-borne attackers intercepted his car and opened fire at close range. At the time of the incident, Rath was sitting beside the driver. He was hit by multiple bullets and died on the spot. His driver also suffered serious injuries and was later shifted to SSKM Hospital for treatment.
Police officials said the attackers appeared to have carried out the murder in a planned manner. A senior officer said, “It’s a planned murder. Because after he shot Rath, the killer waited for him to die.”
The killing of the BJP leader’s aide has stirred a political storm as the party has blamed the defeated Trinamool Congress for it.
