Court in UP's Ballia to hear on June 2 bail plea of man arrested with firearms in Chandranath Rath murder case

A court will hear the bail plea of Naveen Kumar Singh, arrested in connection with the murder of Chandranath Rath, an associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, on June 2.

A court here will hear on June 2 the bail plea of a man arrested with firearms by the Special Task Force (STF) in connection with the murder case of Chandranath Rath, an associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, prosecution officials said Saturday.

District Government Counsel Sanjeev Singh said 35-year-old Naveen Kumar Singh had moved the bail application before the court of District Judge Anil Kumar Jha after his plea was rejected by a lower court. The matter has been listed for hearing on June 2.

Naveen Singh was arrested by the STF last Wednesday following inputs from the CBI probing the May 6 murder of Rath in West Bengal.

According to police, an FIR was registered at the Phephna police station under sections 3, 7, 25 and 27 of the Arms Act on the complaint of STF inspector Anil Kumar Singh of Varanasi unit.

Police said the CBI had informed the STF that Naveen Singh, a resident of Thamhanpura village in the Phephna police station area, was allegedly in possession of firearms linked to the case. Acting on the input, an STF team reached Ballia on May 19 and later apprehended Naveen near Vishunipur.

During questioning, Naveen Singh told investigators that Gyannendra Pratap Singh alias Mannu had met him on May 7 along with Raj Kumar Singh and Golu Singh, who had arrived in a Swift Dzire car. He claimed Mannu later handed him a bag containing firearms at Sheetal Davni village in the Bansdih Road police station area.

Police said the STF recovered from the bag three pistols, two revolvers, 45 live cartridges, three empty shells and a mobile phone from near a Mahindra showroom on the national highway.

Senior prosecution officer P N Swami said the CBI had moved an application before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Shailesh Kumar Pandey on Thursday seeking custody of the seized weapons for sending them to a forensic laboratory for examination.

However, the court rejected the plea, following which the agency began preparing to file a revision petition against the order, prosecution sources said.

Sources in the prosecution department said the CBI was also preparing to seek transit remand of Naveen Singh to take him to Kolkata for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the CBI continues raids to trace absconding accused Mannu and Golu Singh, officials said.

Police sources said Mannu remains absconding and his family members have locked their house in the Bansdih Road area and fled.