Suvendu Adhikari aide murder case: CBI arrest fifth accused from UP's Varanasi 

KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested the fifth accused in connection with the murder case of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant Chandranath Rath from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, central agency officials confirmed.

Officials said the accused has been identified as 40-year-old Vinay Rai alias Pumpum Rai, originally hailing from the Zamani area of Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur.

Earlier on Monday, the agency had arrested the main shooter, identified as Rajkumar Singh, from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. The arrest was made with the help of the Uttar Pradesh Police.

CBI sources identified the accused as Rajkumar Singh, a resident of Chhapar in Uttar Pradesh. A joint operation involving the CBI and local police was carried out on Sunday.

The investigating team had earlier raided a house in Delhi's Swaroop Nagar area, but Rajkumar could not be traced there.

He was eventually apprehended near a toll plaza on the Haridwar-Delhi Highway on Monday. The location is around 30 km from Muzaffarpur. Investigators suspect that he was attempting to flee through Delhi and Haridwar.

Meanwhile, a court has sent three arrested accused — Mayank Raj Mishra, Vicky Maurya, and Raj Singh — to police custody until May 24. They were arrested from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in connection with the case.

According to CBI sources, the name of Rajkumar Singh surfaced during the interrogation of accused Mayank and Raj Singh.

Following his detention, Rajkumar was granted transit remand and later produced before a special CBI court in Kolkata on Tuesday. The investigation into the case is still ongoing, and further action is expected as the agency continues its probe.