‘Scapegoat’: Father of accused in Suvendu Adhikari aide murder
Suvendu Adhikari aide's murder: Kolkata's Shyampukur still bears election posters featuring Sagar Sonkar and his brother – the men arrested for the murder of Chandranath Rath.
Banners and hoardings put up by Sagar Sonkar in Jorabagan area of Kolkata hailing BJP’s assembly polls victory in Bengal and highlighting Suvendu Adhikari. (Express photo by Ravik Bhattacharya) Across Kolkata’s Shyampukur, there are still posters thanking voters on behalf of Sagar Sonkar, the ‘Dadar Angumani (the brother’s follower)’, for the victory of the BJP – the ‘brother’ being Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, whom posters hail as the ‘architect behind change in West Bengal’.
However, on the ground, a lot has changed since May, when the Assembly results swept Adhikari to power.
Sagar, 29, and his 20-year-old brother Saheb are in CBI custody on charges of orchestrating the brazen murder of Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath on May 6, two days after the Assembly results. Their arrests, on July 31, came more than two months after the CBI, which took over the probe from the state police, held seven people, including four alleged sharpshooters, in the case.
A banner by Sagar Sonkar hailing Adhikari, in Jorabagan, Central Kolkata. (Express photo by Ravik Bhattacharya)
The family of the Sonkar brothers says the charges have “stunned” them, as the two worked closely with not just Rath but also Adhikari, in his personal office. Having made the switch from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP like Adhikari, the two played an active role in the Bhabanipur Assembly seat from where the CM contested during the polls, say relatives.
What CBI said on murder of Suvendu Adhikari’s aide
The CBI said that while the brothers did work with Rath and Adhikari, Sagar was in contact with a rival political party the whole time.
And that the brothers hired the shooters who killed Rath.
“While they moved from the TMC to the BJP, they were still in touch with some people with the TMC. Investigation has shown that Sagar was in contact with the office of a rival political party via landline calls,” an official said.
‘My sons are being made scapegoats’, a father’s anguish
The father, Sanjay Sonkar, 55, said his sons could not have been involved.
On the day of the killing, he said Chandranath was with Sagar at the Chinar Park office of the BJP.
“Then Chandranath left and Sagar came home. He was home when he heard that someone had shot Chandranath, and rushed to hospital. He was there for a long time,” says Sanjay, adding: “My sons are being made scapegoats.”
The TMC and the BJP have not commented on the arrests. Repeated calls to local BJP MLA Purnima Chakraborty and former TMC MLA Shashi Panja went unanswered.
After Rath’s killing, Adhikari said the incident could have a political link, but “we are not jumping to any conclusions”. He also said the party was “shocked, pained and hurt”.
Who is Sagar Sonkar?
A graduate from Jaipuria College, Sagar got married last year, while Saheb is currently in first year in the same college.
A banner by Sagar Sonkar hailing Adhikari, in Jorabagan, Central Kolkata. (Express photo by Ravik Bhattacharya)
According to Sanjay, Sagar worked initially as an office assistant with Panja, from 2011 to 2018. He later took up a contractual hospital job but, in 2021, joined the BJP. It was then that he got close to Rath, who got him a job at Adhikari’s office, says Sanjay.
“Sagar was like Chandranath’s shadow. He looked after the financial transactions, even handled payments. Later, he took Saheb along and he too was employed by Chandranath,” says Sanjay, adding that Rath also arranged the rented apartment for Sagar. When Sagar got married, Sanjay adds, Rath was among the guests. “He was such a nice guy, like family.”
He adds that during the Assembly elections, “my two sons worked very hard in the Bhabanipur Assembly segment along with Chandranath”. “Sagar hardly came home, he was so busy.”
From CPIM to Congress and Trinamool
The family has long called the Jorabagan area of Shyampukur in Central Kolkata home.
“We are the sixth generation residing here. More than 70 of our family members live in the area, and many of us are in politics,” says Sagar’s cousin Dhiraj Kumar Sonkar. A former general secretary of the students’ union at Jaipuria College, Dhiraj adds: “We fought against the CPI(M) and were associated with Congress, before joining the TMC. Some of our family members are also with the BJP.”
On Rath’s killing, Dhiraj says: “It is hard to believe that Sagar can do such a thing, and Saheb is so young.”
Sanjay says the CBI first called the brothers for interrogation on July 17 and released them after 13 hours. “They seized their cellphones… Then on July 31, the CBI first picked up Sagar and then Saheb.”
On the CBI claim Sagar was in touch with a rival party, Sanjay says: “When he joined the BJP, it was at the cost of his hospital job. Do you think such a person will even think of (betraying) his party? Like other BJP workers, we too suffered after joining the party.”
Rath, who was returning home when a car intercepted his SUV and two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire killing him, was a former Indian Air Force airman. He had been associated with Adhikari since 2018, and became his personal assistant in 2021, after the latter – in the TMC then – became Leader of the Opposition.
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