KOLKATA: The driver of the car, which was targeted by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath's assailants, is in a critical condition at a hospital here, police sources said on Thursday.

Buddhadeb Bera, who was driving Rath's car, sustained bullet injuries and has undergone multiple surgeries, a senior official of the hospital said.

"His condition continues to be very critical. He underwent a couple of surgical procedures and is being closely monitored in the intensive care unit," the official told PTI.

Doctors were "doing everything possible" to stabilise Bera, he added.

West Bengal's post-poll tension took a bloody turn on Wednesday night after Chandranath Rath, a close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in North 24 Parganas in what the saffron camp described as a "targeted assassination", triggering outrage, protests and fresh allegations of political violence.

According to preliminary information, Rath was intercepted near Doltala in Madhyamgram around 10.30 pm by motorcycle-borne assailants who tailed his vehicle, forced it to stop and opened fire before fleeing.

Investigators said that Rath's vehicle was intercepted barely 100 metres from his residential complex around 10.15 pm on Wednesday.