UPI Payment Leads Cops To Suvendu Adhikari's Aide Killers In UP, Bihar

Three people have been arrested in the murder of Chandranath Rath, the personal assistant of West Bengal's new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. In a joint operation by the West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar police, the three men identified as Vishal Srivastava, Raj Singh and Mayank Mishra have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The arrests were made possible after the police tracked a UPI payment made by the assailants at a toll booth in Bally near Kolkata.

Chandranath Rath was on his way home when he was shot dead at point-blank range on Wednesday night, between 10 and 10:10 pm. Rath was seated in the front passenger seat of his SUV, a Mahindra Scorpio, and was less than 200 metres away from his home in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas.

The initial investigation has revealed that Rath's SUV was blocked by a silver-coloured Nissan Micra following which bike-borne assailants shot him. The killers then abandoned the Micra and used another red car and a bike to flee.

The police scanned CCTV footage and tracked the car, which was seen making a payment at the toll plaza. All three arrested men were seated in the same car and had paid at a toll booth using UPI. This served as the crucial link that led cops to Rath's killers.

According to the police, the three arrested men are professional killers and have roots in Buxar, Bihar. Vishal Srivastava is said to have over 15 criminal cases against him, including murder and robbery.

Vishal Srivastava, one of the three men arrested in the murder of Chandranath Rath.

The three men will be produced in the Barasat court in Bengal today.

Fake Number Plate, Stolen Bike

Police have recovered two bikes and seized Micra car so far. The investigation suggests that all three were stolen and the car even carried a fake number plate.

"The four-wheeler used in the crime has been seized, but it is being reported that the number plate is fake and has been tampered with," Bengal's DGP Siddh Nath Gupta had said after the shooting.

The car, a Nissan Micra, was registered as WB74AK2270.