A young biker heard what was possibly the last of the bullets fired at the car carrying Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who was shot dead on a Madhyamgram road late on Wednesday.
The biker, who requested anonymity, said he also caught a glimpse of the assailants in the final moments of the attack that has sent shockwaves across the state. He shared his account with Metro.
I was riding from Jessore Road towards Madhy-amgram. It must have been around 10pm. As soon as I entered Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Road, which was almost deserted, I saw a white Scorpio stopped ahead of me. A bike was standing right beside it. Then I heard a gunshot fired into the car.
There was a rider and a pillion rider on the bike, both wearing helmets. Within seconds, a third person — he was not wearing a helmet but had a mask covering his face and neck — jumped onto the bike behind the pillion rider. The bike sped away. I could not make out who fired the shot.
It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened. The driver opened the door and stumbled out. He was bleeding, limping and screaming for help. He was wearing a light-coloured shirt — white or perhaps beige. Another man, who had been in the back seat, got out and tried to support him. He appeared unhurt.
An empty Nissan Micra was standing in front of the Scorpio, blocking the road. Looking back, I feel the driver of the Micra was probably the third attacker who jumped onto the bike before it sped away. Along with the unhurt passenger, I managed to move the driver to the back seat.
Another man had collapsed in the space between the front passenger seat and the driver’s seat. He was wearing a mauve shirt soaked in blood. The unhurt passenger drove towards a hospital on Jessore Road. I followed the car on my bike.