Five armed men enter a Bihar hospital, casually walk into a patient’s room, pump bullets into him and escape. This is not a movie. This is Bihar’s horrifying reality. The CCTV cameras at the hospital captured the five shooters pulling out their guns, opening the cabin’s door, and then escaping. The target, Chandan Mishra, died during treatment.
Mishra, a hardened criminal with dozens of murder cases against him, was out on parole on medical grounds. He was admitted to Patna’s Paras Hospital, where the shooting took place this morning. Police believe that a rival gang is behind the chilling attack.
“A criminal named Chandan Mishra, resident of Buxar district, against whom dozens of cases of murder are registered, was transferred from Buxar to Bhagalpur jail. Chandan was on parole and admitted to Paras Hospital for treatment. The rival gang shot him. He is undergoing treatment, and with the help of the Buxar police, we are identifying the members of the rival gang, Chandan Sheru gang,” Kartikay Sharma, Senior Superintendent of Police, told the media after the shooting. Mishra later succumbed to his injuries. Police have said they are also investigating whether the hospital’s security guards were involved in the incident.
The hospital shooting has yet again spotlighted the law and order situation in the Bihar capital, which has made headlines for multiple cases of murder in the past few weeks. Among those killed are businessmen Gopal Khemka, BJP leader Surendra Kewat and lawyer Jitendra Mahato.
The Nitish Kumar-led JDU-BJP government is on the back foot as the rising crime graph has given ammunition to the Opposition RJD and Congress to target the state government months ahead of state polls. In the aftermath of the hospital shooting, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has questioned the Bihar government if “anyone was safe anywhere” in the state. “Government-backed criminals stormed into the ICU and shot a patient admitted to the hospital. Is anyone safe anywhere in Bihar? Has this happened before 2005?” he asked.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha has assured that the criminals would be caught. “Such an incident is unfortunate. It will be thoroughly investigated and the criminal will not be spared. The Chief Minister of Bihar has said the criminal will be caught and strictly punished.”
