New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out extensive search operations in Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar area in connection with the murder case of Chandranath Rath, the PA of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, officials said on Saturday.

Chandranath Rath was killed earlier this month, and the investigation into the case is currently being handled by the CBI.

According to officials, the raids were conducted jointly with a team from the Delhi Police Special Cell as part of efforts to trace an individual believed to be linked to the murder case.

The search operation continued for several hours at two separate houses located in the Swaroop Nagar locality. However, the person being sought by the investigating agencies was reportedly not found at either of the residences during the operation.

After completing the searches, the CBI team returned after serving an official notice to the suspect’s father, asking him to cooperate with the investigation and ensure the individual’s appearance before the agency.

Meanwhile, preliminary findings in the investigation have revealed that the four-wheeler allegedly used in the assassination of Chandranath Rath had been procured from neighbouring Jharkhand.

Officials said investigators are continuing to examine multiple leads related to the vehicle, the movements of the accused persons, and the broader conspiracy behind the murder. The agency is also working to establish the identities and roles of all individuals connected to the case.

Sources said that, as per the confessions given by Mayank Raj Mishra, one of the three suspects arrested in the case, he was given the contract by a Jharkhand-based person to deliver the said four-wheeler from Jharkhand to Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, which is close to the place of the assassination of Rath at a crossing at Madhyamgram in the same district.

It is learnt that Mishra had confessed that he took the car from Jharkhand, drove all the way to Barasat and after reaching an abandoned place near Barasat rail gate, replaced the number plate with a fake one, the original of which is registered with the regional transport office (RTO) at Siliguri in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

It is further learnt that Mayank has also confessed that he received an amount of Rs 1,00,000 to deliver the four-wheeler from Jharkhand to Barasat. After delivering the car at Barsat, Maynak, as confessed by him, went to Howrah Station, boarded a train and went to Buxar, where he was arrested.

Rath was murdered on the night of May 6, just two days after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections were declared on May 4.

As Rath was on his way back home at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district from a party programme on May 6 night, his vehicle was stopped at a particular crossing by the four-wheeler brought from Jharkhand.

As per the initial investigation, while Rath’s vehicle stopped after getting blocked by the four-wheeler, one of the two motorcycles that had been shadowing Rath’s vehicle for a long time stopped beside Rath’s vehicle. An assailant driving that motorcycle shot ten rounds of bullets from a close distance.

While Rath died on the spot, his driver, Buddhadeb Bera, was critically injured. Bera, however, is recovering fast.

–IANS

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