Varanasi: Another Ballia man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, executive assistant to Suvendu Adhikari — now Bengal CM — near a toll plaza in Muzaffarnagar’s Chhapar area.The accused, identified as Rajkumar Singh, a resident of Ballia district, was allegedly returning from Haridwar with his family when the joint team intercepted his vehicle.Sources said CBI had received prior intelligence about Singh’s movement and laid a trap near the toll plaza on Monday with the help of local police. “As soon as the suspect’s vehicle reached the spot, the joint team intercepted it and detained him,” a source said, adding that Singh was questioned for several hours after his arrest.Investigators said they expected crucial leads from Singh on the murder conspiracy and the role of other suspects allegedly linked to the case. “The accused is likely to be taken for further interrogation after transit formalities, and his questioning may help establish the larger conspiracy behind the murder,” an official said.State police had earlier arrested three persons in the case. Two accused, Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya, were detained from Buxar in Bihar, while another accused, Raj Singh, was detained from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Police said at least eight people were allegedly involved in the conspiracy and execution of the murder. “The role of other suspects and the chain of planning are being examined,” an official said.When contacted, Rajkumar’s father Tribhuvan Narayan Singh of Ratpur village in Ballia said CBI officials called him at 6:45 am on Monday to inform him about Rajkumar’s arrest.Tribhuvan said he did not know where Rajkumar was on May 6, but had seen his son at home on the evening of May 7. Rajkumar has two cases against him, including one for assault.The second case was filed by Jitendra Kumar Bharti of Ratapur against 11 people, including Tribhuvan and Rajkumar, for objecting to soil being dumped during Jal Nigam pipeline work.Last year, Rajkumar had left for a crane operator job but returned home because he could not obtain a police character certificate.
