WB CM aide murder case: Another accused arrested from UP's Ballia

A 35-year-old alleged criminal was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Ballia district in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, an associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, police said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Naveen Kumar Singh, a resident of Thamhanpura village under the Phephna Police Station area, was arrested following inputs shared by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing Rath's murder in West 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 Gyanendra Pratap Singh alias Mannu, a known criminal from Ballia and a resident of Sheetal Davni village under Bansdih Road police station limits, met him on May 7 along with two others identified as Raj Kumar Singh and Golu Singh.

Naveen claimed Mannu later handed him a bag containing firearms.

Police said the accused later led the STF team to a car showroom located along the national highway, from where the bag containing the weapons was 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 the police, one of the recovered pistols has been manufactured in the United States.

Naveen is also facing two criminal cases related to extortion and assault registered at the Phephna Police Station, police said.

The other accused, Raj Kumar Singh, has already been arrested from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the murder, while Gyanendra Pratap Singh alias Mannu and Golu Singh are absconding.

CBI officials had earlier visited Mannu's residence in Ballia on Saturday as part of the investigation.

Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh informed that Naveen was produced before a local court in Ballia after the case was registered. The court remanded him to judicial custody and sent him to Mau jail, he said.

Earlier, another Ballia resident, Raj Singh, was arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with the murder case. The 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 West Bengal on transit remand, police had said.

Chandranath Rath, an aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead at point-blank range in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on May 6, triggering political reactions and tension in the area.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)