Overview
- Chandranath Rath was gunned down Wednesday night in Madhyamgram, where attackers blocked his car and a bike-borne shooter fired at close range, leaving his driver critically injured.
- Investigators seized a small four-wheeler with a fake plate linked to a Siliguri registration, recovered live and spent cartridges, and are combing CCTV footage that suggests prior reconnaissance.
- BJP leaders called the shooting a targeted assassination, the Trinamool Congress condemned it and sought a court-monitored CBI probe, and police had not announced arrests in Rath’s case at press time.
- Police reinforced patrols across Kolkata and nearby districts, set up barricades at border checkpoints, and reported more than 1,500 arrests since Monday’s election results as they try to prevent fresh clashes.
- In a separate post-poll case, officers arrested TMC leader Kamal Mondal and three associates near the Bangladesh border over the New Town killing of BJP worker Madhu Mondal.