Murder, Politics, and the Shadowy World of Indian Elections The recent arrest of two brothers, Sagar Sonkar and Sahib Sonkar, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, raises more questions than it answers about the dark underbelly of Indian politics.
The CBI's probe into the alleged assassination plot has led investigators to suspect links between the perpetrators and functionaries of rival political parties, underscoring the increasingly toxic nature of electioneering in India.
The history of electoral violence in West Bengal is well documented, with allegations of murder, extortion, and intimidation rife for years.