The four from Ballia: Joining dots between accused in killing of Suvendu Adhikari aide in Bengal

A business installing water pipelines for agricultural fields brought together four men from Ballia. Two years later, they would find themselves at the centre of a high-profile criminal investigation.

The four are among seven people arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the killing of Chandranath Rath, a close associate of West Bengal BJP leader and now CM Suvendu Adhikari, in the state’s Madhyamgram city on May 6, shortly after BJP’s thumping win in the Assembly polls.

The men, whose villages are scattered across a radius of roughly 50 kilometres, first became acquainted about two years ago through their work and remained in occasional contact thereafter. For their families, what remains unanswered is how they came to be linked to an investigation that has captured national attention.

Besides the four from Ballia, the CBI has also arrested Mayank Raj Mishra and Vicky Maurya from Bihar’s Buxar district and Vinay Rai alias Pumpum from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district.

Chandranath Rath was shot dead on his way home

A visit to their residences revealed all four are from relatively well-off farming households, where their families live in sizeable homes and depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods. Some had also ventured into small businesses, forging the professional relationships that eventually connected them. The families claim they are not aware if the men had been to West Bengal even once.

Sources in the CBI said the arrests are taking them closer to the prime accused, who is believed to have masterminded the killing. “We are trying to connect the dots and are questioning the accused to find out the exact chain – who hired whom and the exact motive behind the murder,” a source said.

With the exception of one accused, all four from Ballia have had a prior brush with the law, though only one has a substantial criminal record.

The most prominent among them is Sheetal Davani village resident Gyanendra Singh alias Mannu, 48, a listed history-sheeter with 12 cases registered against him across Jharkhand, Bihar, Varanasi and Ballia. The cases range from murder and attempted murder to offences under the Arms Act. The other two accused, Naveen Singh, 34, of Thamanpura village, and Raj Kumar Singh, 21, of Ratopur village, have been named in cases involving physical assault, their families say. The fourth accused, Golu Singh of Basudevpur village, has no known criminal record, as per local police.

Naveen, a graduate and the most educated of the four, runs a business installing and maintaining irrigation pipelines for farmers across Ballia district.

Sitting on a bed inside his two-storey home, his father, Anil Singh, a government employee posted in Ballia, said the others arrested in the case came to know Naveen through this work. “Otherwise there was no particular reason for them to be in regular contact with him,” he said.

Over time, Naveen became the common link connecting the others, according to their families.

“Two of the arrested men visited our home on a handful of occasions, but only in connection with work,” Anil Singh said. “Raj Kumar worked alongside Naveen in the irrigation pipeline business for a few days, while Gyanendra came to our house two or three times after Naveen carried out work on his farm. They were acquaintances through business, not close friends.”

Anil Singh said they are unsure of how to “manage a legal battle so far from Ballia”.

Raj Kumar, who worked alongside Naveen while learning the irrigation pipeline business, lives about 30 kilometres from his village. Gyanendra’s home is located nearly 25 kilometres away.

Gyanendra, the eldest of the four accused, had been preparing to enter local politics and contest the upcoming village head election in his native village of Sheetal Davani. Across the village, hoardings and campaign posters carrying his photograph still stand as reminders of ambitions that, until his arrest, appeared to be moving steadily forward.

His wife, Mahima Singh, dismissed claims that he husband is a habitual offender. Speaking outside their home, Mahima, a graduate, said that the vast majority of cases previously filed against him had resulted in acquittals or rulings in his favour.

“Of the 12 cases registered against him, he has been acquitted in 11,” she claimed. “The only case still pending is an attempted murder case that stemmed from a land dispute, after our opponents allegedly tried to take over our property.”

She claimed her husband’s decision to enter politics made him a target. “Ever since Gyanendra announced that he would contest the pradhan election, several people in the area began opposing and targeting him,” she claimed.

The youngest of three brothers, Gyanendra studied up to the intermediate level and married Mahima in 2015.

Gyanendra’s brothers live separately. The eldest, Daya Shankar Singh, spent nearly three decades working as a helper with a private company in West Bengal before returning to Ballia about a year ago. He now resides in a house directly opposite Gyanendra’s home in their native village.

“I have no idea how Gyanendra came to be linked to this case,” said Daya Shankar, 57. “I am trying to get in touch with people I know in West Bengal to understand the facts of the case and whether the CBI have identified any role played by him.”

Residents of the village described Gyanendra as someone who divided his time between farming and property-related work. More recently, he had secured the distributorship of a food products company and employed Golu Singh, one of the accused, to help supply goods to local shops.

Mahima admitted Golu had visited their home on several occasions, but only in connection with the business.

His village, Basudevpur, lies about 15 kilometres away. At 28, Golu is the youngest of the four men arrested. Having studied up to the intermediate level, he chose to enter business after marrying last year.

His 65-year-old mother, Vidyarthi Devi, said this was a sign that he was beginning to stand on his own feet. “My family hid the news from me because of my heart condition. I only learnt about Golu’s arrest from people who came to the house,” she said.

Golu’s uncle, Sunil Singh, said that while Golu’s father, Ramji Singh, served in the Army until his retirement in 2008, much of the responsibility for raising the children fell to their mother, Vidyarthi Devi.

The fourth accused, Raj Kumar, was the first to be arrested by the agency. After spending some time working with Naveen Singh last year, Raj Kumar travelled to Mumbai in search of better employment opportunities. There, he worked for a private company before returning to his hometown a few days prior to his arrest.

The CBI claims he was arrested from Muzaffarnagar while he was allegedly trying to flee to Uttarakhand.

Raj Kumar’s father, Tribhuvan Narain Singh, an electrician, recalled that two of the men arrested in the case, Naveen and Gyanendra, had previously visited the family’s home and even attended Raj Kumar’s birthday celebration last year.

After Raj Kumar completed his Intermediate studies and spent much of his time idling in the district, the family encouraged him to seek work elsewhere. “He worked with Naveen for some time to learn the trade,” he said. “People visit each other’s homes and stay together while learning a profession.”

Tribhuvan described their relationship as increasingly distant in recent years, saying Raj Kumar rarely spoke about his life or activities outside the village. “Our family has decided to wait for the chargesheet to be filed before drawing any conclusions,” he said.