Who was Chandranath Rath? Air Force Veteran, Suvendu Adhikari's most trusted aide killed in brazen West Bengal shooting

Chandranath Rath spent nearly two decades serving in the Indian Air Force before becoming one of the most influential backroom operators in West Bengal's BJP. On Wednesday night, he was shot dead in a targeted ambush near Kolkata airport, killed less than 48 hours after the state assembly election results, and Trinamool Congress's loss was declared. The killing, according to eyewitness accounts, was a professional, pre-planned hit. Adhikari has also alleged that it was "a cold-blooded and pre-planned murder". Who was Chandranath Rath? All you need to know about Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant, who was shot and killed in post-poll violence in West Bengal.

Who was Chandranath Rath?

41-year-old Chandranath Rath was the BJP West Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari's most trusted aide. According to reports, he grew up in Chandipur in Purba Medinipur, the political heartland closely associated with Adhikari's rise in Bengal politics. TOI reports that he studied at Rahara Ramakrishna Mission, an institution whose spiritual and disciplined ethos reportedly left a lasting impression on him.

Family acquaintances said he had once seriously considered a monastic life before choosing a different path. Instead, he joined the Indian Air Force, serving for close to 20 years before taking voluntary retirement. After a brief stint in the corporate sector, he gravitated toward political work and eventually started working with Adhikari, whose family the Raths had known for more than two decades.

Rath's mother had held a position in a local panchayat body during the Trinamool Congress's early expansion in Purba Medinipur. Like Adhikari, the family switched allegiance to the BJP in 2020.

How Rath became Adhikari's most trusted aide

Rath formally joined Adhikari's team around 2019, when Adhikari was still a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government. He initially handled administrative responsibilities linked to the ministerial office and later continued in that role after Adhikari moved to the BJP and became leader of the opposition. Over time, he took on sensitive political assignments that required Adhikari's complete trust, including coordinating organisational logistics, maintaining communication with party workers and legislators.

He was part of the core team during several high-stakes political battles, including the BJP's Bhabanipur campaign. Within party circles, there had been speculation that if Adhikari assumed a larger role after the assembly elections, Rath would be given a more prominent position as well.

What happened? Eyewitness reveals shocking details of how Suvendhu Adhikari's PA was killed

According to investigators, Rath was returning to his Madhyamgram residence with aide Buddhadeb Bera when motorcycle-borne assailants intercepted their SUV near Doharia at around 10:30 PM. Another vehicle had blocked the SUV on a deserted stretch barely three kilometres from Kolkata airport. The attackers fired multiple rounds at point-blank range. Rath was struck in the chest and abdomen and was declared dead on arrival at a nearby private hospital. Bera, who was driving, sustained serious injuries and remains under treatment.

An eyewitness to the killing described the sequence of events to ANI. "Just as Chandra's car crossed mine, it suddenly stopped midway, and a bike-borne person came and started shooting on the left side of the car. The person seemed to be an expert and fled immediately. It appeared to be pre-planned. The shots were fired at point-blank range. I heard the sound of two rounds." The incident occurred between 10:30 PM and 11 PM, approximately 200 to 300 metres from the hospital.

Police have recovered live rounds, fired cartridges and seized a vehicle believed to have been used in the attack, though its number plate appeared to be fake or tampered with. CCTV footage from the area is being examined and multiple teams are conducting raids.