Chandranath Rath, aide to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Vinay Rai, the fifth accused in the murder case of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.Rai was arrested from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh after the investigation into this high-profile murder spread to several states. Investigators are probing the role of hired shooters and a wider conspiracy behind the murder.Adhikari’s close aide Chandranath Rath was shot dead inside his car near Dohariya crossing in Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district, barely 170 meters from his residence, on the night of May 6. His driver Buddhadeb Bera suffered serious injuries in the attack and is undergoing treatment.Earlier, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder had arrested four accused before expanding its investigation beyond West Bengal. According to investigators, the attackers carried out the operation with “military-style precision” in less than a minute.The police suspect that hired sharpshooters were brought in from outside the state to carry out the murder. Investigators said a silver hatchback stopped Rath’s vehicle before the bike-borne assailants opened fire at close range.The SIT recovered two motorcycles allegedly used in the crime, one from the airport area and the other near railway gates 11 and 12 in Barasat. Preliminary findings revealed that both the motorcycles and the hatchback used in the attack were previously stolen and had fake number plates fitted to avoid identification.The breakthrough in the investigation came when the police traced the UPI payment made at the Nivedita Setu toll plaza on May 6. Officials said the digital trail led investigators to Jharkhand, where the hatchback used in the murder may have been purchased.Sources close to the TOI investigation said the accused deliberately avoided using FASTag and instead made digital payments directly, which helped investigators track the vehicle’s movement in Kolkata.