1. Investigators are tracing a UPI payment made by the killers at a Kolkata toll plaza to identify the hit squad.
2. Phone records and a cloned car plate have uncovered links to suspects in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
3. The assassination was a professional, pre-planned hit, executed in under a minute with precise knowledge of the victim's seating position.
Four days after the sophisticated assassination of Chandranath Rath, the personal aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, investigators are relying on a trail of digital footprints—including a toll plaza UPI payment and inter-state phone calls—to track down the professional hit squad responsible for the killing.
Rath was gunned down on the night of May 6 in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas. The attack lasted less than 50 seconds; assailants on motorcycles intercepted his SUV, specifically targeting him in the front passenger seat.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has traced a crucial clue: a UPI payment made by the killers at the Bally toll plaza near Kolkata while driving the silver Nissan Micra used to block Rath’s vehicle. Using CCTV footage, authorities tracked the car to the booth, and the digital payment trail is now being analyzed to identify the occupants.
Simultaneously, investigators have traced a call to Uttar Pradesh. The Micra’s number plate was cloned from a vehicle in Siliguri whose owner had posted an online sale advertisement; a potential buyer from UP responded. An SIT team has traveled to UP to collect technical evidence, while another team was dispatched to Bihar following suspicions that sharpshooters were brought in from those states.
Police have confirmed the attack was a "textbook contract killing" hatched weeks in advance . "The shooters knew exactly where the target was seated. The execution was swift and professionally coordinated," a senior SIT officer told PTI.
The assailants used fake registration plates on their vehicles and wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. Investigators believe at least eight individuals were involved, coordinating in real-time via a dedicated WhatsApp group . While three persons have been detained for questioning, no formal arrests have been made yet.