The investigation into the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant of Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, widened on Thursday with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) arresting another accused from Ballia district and investigators tracing the car allegedly used in the killing to the same district.
A 35-year-old alleged criminal, Naveen Kumar Singh, was arrested by the STF following inputs shared by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing Rath’s murder in Bengal on May 6.
Acting on information that Naveen was allegedly stockpiling illegal firearms, an STF team from the Varanasi unit reached Ballia on May 19 and launched a search operation, police said.
According to police, the STF recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from Naveen’s possession. Based on a complaint lodged by STF inspector Anil Kumar Singh, an FIR was registered against him under relevant provisions of the Arms Act at the Phephna Police Station on Wednesday.
During interrogation, Naveen allegedly told STF officials that Ballia-based criminal Gyanendra Pratap Singh alias Mannu met him on May 7 along with Raj Kumar Singh and another associate identified as Golu Singh, and later handed him a bag containing firearms.
Police said Naveen subsequently led STF personnel to a car showroom along a national highway from where the weapons were recovered. The STF seized three pistols, two revolvers, 45 live cartridges of .32 bore, three empty shells and a mobile phone from the spot. According to police, one of the recovered pistols was manufactured in the United States.
Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh said Naveen was produced before a local court in Ballia, which remanded him to judicial custody and sent him to Mau jail.
Investigators are also probing the role of Gyanendra Pratap Singh alias Mannu, who remains absconding along with Golu Singh. Raj Kumar Singh has already been arrested in Muzaffarnagar in connection with the case.
Amid the ongoing probe, fresh details emerged about the vehicle allegedly used in the murder. A resident of Phulwaria village under Bansdih Road police station limits, Jitendra Singh, claimed that a man identified as Mitthu, alias Deepak, had purchased a Nissan Micra car through him for Rs 35,000 in October last year. He alleged that the same vehicle was later sold on May 1 to Gyanendra Pratap, alias Mannu, for Rs 50,000.
Jitendra told reporters that a CBI team had visited his house recently and questioned him regarding the vehicle. He said he had fully cooperated with the investigators and shared all the information available to them.
Meanwhile, a CCTV clip circulating on social media purportedly showed a CBI team conducting a raid at the residence of Gyanendra Pratap in Sheetal Davni village under the Bansdih Road police station area. However, Mannu was not found during the raid.
Bansdih Road police station SHO Vansh Bahadur Singh confirmed that the CBI had conducted a raid at Mannu’s residence in recent days, but he was absconding. The officer said no family members were present at the house, and all relatives were also missing.
According to police, Gyanendra Pratap has around 12 criminal cases, including murder and attempt to murder, registered against him in Ballia district. A criminal case is also registered against him in Chhattisgarh.
Investigators are also examining links between Mannu and Raj Kumar Singh after photographs purportedly showing the two together surfaced on social media.
Earlier, another Ballia resident, Raj Singh, was arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with the murder case. Kolkata Police had said the arrests were made by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the killing after investigators traced “digital clues and interstate links” linked to the accused persons.
“The suspects were detained in Uttar Pradesh and later taken to Bengal on transit remand,” police had said.
Chandranath Rath was shot dead at point-blank range in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on May 6, triggering political tension and a multi-state investigation involving the CBI, STF and the West Bengal Police.