‘Bhaipo gang’ arranged ₹2 crore for shootout: Suvendu Adhikari on PA's murder

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said that “Bhaipo-gang” (nephew gang) was behind the murder of Chandranath Rath, his personal assistant, who was shot dead in May this year, days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in West Bengal.

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari.“As it was an inter-state crime, the state government handed over the probe to the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation]. Seven persons have been arrested. As far as I know, ₹2 crore was spent to murder him.

The ‘Bhaipo gang’ arranged the funds. I won’t divulge any further for the sake of the investigation. There are call records of individuals from Diamond Harbour who handed over the money to the contract killers,” Adhikari said.

While the CM didn’t name any person, the BJP leaders have frequently referred to Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from Diamond Harbour and nephew of former CM Mamata Banerjee, as ‘Bhaipo’ (Bengali for nephew) during election campaigns.

“The manner in which Chandranath was brutally murdered, I feel that his biggest crime was that he was assisting the Leader of the Opposition (Adhikari was the LoP in the state legislative assembly). That’s why he was eliminated,” Adhikari said in a rally in Haldia.

The BJP fielded Hasirani Rath, Chadranath Rath’s mother, from Nandigram assembly seat in East Midnapore district where by-elections are scheduled on October 6. Rath filed her nomination in Haldia on Tuesday. Adhikari led a rally in her support in Haldia.

The party also fielded Sakharav Sarkar from Rejinagar in Murshidabad. The Congress, Left Front and two factions of the TMC have already fielded their candidates. The last day for filing nomination for by-elections is September 16.

Adhikari led a rally in Haldia, East Midnapore district today before Rath files her nomination at the SDO office in Haldia. Soon after the CM’s “Bhaipo gang” remarks, the TMC took to social media and reposted its May 7 post in which it condemned the murder of Rath and also the killing of three TMC workers in separate incidents in post poll clashes.

Bengal elections results were announced on May 4, with the BJP coming to power with a sweeping victory by winning 207 seats. Adhikari took oath on May 9. Adhikari won from two seats - Nandigram and Bhabanipur, and after being sworn in as the CM, he decided to represent Kolkata’s Bhabanipur seat.

On Monday the rebel camp of the TMC led by Ritabrata Banerjee named two candidates for the upcoming bye-elections. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction announced its candidates for the by polls on Sunday. Both factions said their candidates would file nominations on the party symbol — twin flowers on two stems emerging from the grass.

Both the factions are gearing up for their first electoral battle in the upcoming bypolls and have locked horns with both staking claim of the party’s poll symbol. The Election Commission of India (ECI) met delegations from both factions in New Delhi on Saturday.

The commission is yet to pass any formal order on the dispute. With September 16 as the last date for filing nominations, both groups have urged the poll panel to decide at the earliest.