‘I Kept Saying I Did Not Kill Chandranath Rath’: Picked Up By Mistake, Ballia Resident Narrates 10-Day Ordeal

Last Updated:May 22, 2026, 18:45 IST

"Every night I feared I could be killed in a fake encounter," says Raj Singh, who was picked up instead of Raj Kumar Singh

A 10-day ordeal involving arrest, alleged custodial torture and fears of a “fake encounter" ended for Ballia resident Raj Singh after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cleared him in the murder case of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to senior West Bengal BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

Raj Singh, who was picked up by an Uttar Pradesh Special Operations Group (SOG) team from Ayodhya on May 11, claimed he was mistakenly identified as another suspect — Raj Kumar Singh — in the high-profile murder investigation.

After returning home on Thursday, Raj broke down while recalling his days in custody in Kolkata. “I kept telling them I had nothing to do with the murder. They threatened me and kept asking me to confess. Every night I feared I could be killed in a fake encounter because I did not even understand the local language there," he said.

According to Raj, he had travelled to Ayodhya with his mother for darshan when he was detained by the SOG team. “They neither listened to me nor checked the evidence I offered. I showed them proof that I was in Ballia on the day of the murder, but they still sent me to Kolkata," he alleged.

Raj claimed that after being handed over to the Kolkata Police and the CID, he was kept in custody for several days and pressured to confess to a crime he did not commit. “Their intention was to frame me as a criminal. But when the CBI investigated, the truth came out. They assured me that if I was innocent, nothing wrong would happen to me," he said.

The murder of Chandranath Rath, 42, took place on May 6 in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, two days after the state election results were declared. Rath was shot dead after assailants intercepted his vehicle in the Madhyamgram area and opened fire at close range.

Raj said the confusion arose because investigators were looking for another accused named Raj Kumar Singh. During questioning by the CBI, Raj submitted multiple pieces of evidence to establish his whereabouts on May 6. He claimed CCTV footage showed him visiting his hospital, shopping at a showroom, stopping at Kala Zone, and later purchasing clothes from a mall near Malgodam in Ballia.

“Every place had CCTV footage. I gave all the evidence to the CBI," he said.

Raj has now appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to order an inquiry into the SOG team involved in his arrest. “There should be an investigation into how many innocent people may have been falsely implicated or even killed because of such mistakes," he said.

Raj’s return home turned emotional, with family members embracing him amid tears and celebrations. His mother, Jamvanti Singh, said she spent sleepless nights trying to prove her son’s innocence. “I went door to door, folded my hands before officials and kept saying my son was innocent. Nobody listened. I even prayed before Lord Ram that if justice was not delivered, I would give up my life at His doorstep," she said.

She also alleged misconduct by the Ayodhya SOG team, claiming she was taken to a police station without any woman police personnel accompanying her. Raj’s sister Deepshikha Singh, who said she pursued the matter legally from Prayagraj, accused sections of society and social media users of branding her brother a “don" and portraying the family as criminals without evidence.

“Before picking someone up, police should conduct a proper investigation. No innocent person should suffer what my brother suffered in these ten days," she said.

Raj, who has been politically active locally and has been associated with BJP circles and Kshatriya organisations, said the episode had deeply shaken him. “There is no greater happiness now than being back with my mother and family," he said.

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