Identified but still elusive, the police had cast a wider net to nab the assailants who shot dead a convict inside a hospital in Patna. On Saturday morning, five persons were picked up for questioning after two flats were raided in the New Town area in the outskirts of Kolkata during a joint operation conducted by the Bihar Police and the West Bengal Police, sources said.
While the police were questioning the five persons, they got a tip-off about five more persons staying at a guest house in Anandapur. They were also taken in for questioning at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters. According to a police source, a car has also been seized.
On July 17, in the high-security Paras Hospital in Patna, where security protocols are in place that involves frisking of visitors, five men, all carrying guns, shot dead 36-year-old Chandan Mishra, a notorious criminal out on parole, in his hospital room at 7.15 am and vanished on their motorcycles.
According to the police, Mishra had been serving a life sentence in businessman Rajendra Kumar murder case. He had over 24 criminal cases registered against him, including charges of murder, conspiracy, extortion, arms violations, and offences under the Prisoners Act and IT Act, spanning multiple police stations across Buxar, Dumraon, and Arrah districts of Bihar.
According to police sources, the five persons, who were picked up from the New Town area, had been reportedly staying on rent in two separate flats for the past six to seven months. The police have found that the five had spoken on the phone to the prime accused, and that is why they are being questioned, sources said.
Bihar Police were scrutinising CCTV footage when they saw the accused entering Bengal and extended their search to the neighbouring state. Sources said they are now looking into CCTV footage of the National Highways and of the building complex to find any clue about the movement of the prime accused.
Chandan, a resident of Buxar district, was arrested by the STF in Kolkata in 2014 and shifted to Buxar Central Jail. From there, he was shifted to Bhagalpur Central Jail.
5 cops suspended
Five policemen were on Saturday suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the murder of gangster Chandan Mishra in a Patna hospital, a senior officer said.
The suspended personnel include a sub-inspector, two ASIs, and two constables.
“They have been suspended with immediate effect for dereliction of duty in connection with the murder of the convict inside a top private hospital on Thursday. The personnel were posted at Shastri Nagar police station,” Patna (Central) Superintendent of Police Diksha told PTI.
Mishra, a resident of Buxar district of Bihar, was shot dead by gunmen inside the hospital on Thursday morning. He was a murder convict out on parole.
Also, three more policemen – an SI and two ASIs — were suspended for laxity during their normal deployments at different places in the state capital. These suspensions were not related to the murder case.
While an SI posted at Kargil Chowk near Gandhi Maidan was suspended, two ASIs — one of Gardani Bagh police station and another posted at Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) — were suspended for dereliction of duty, a statement issued by the office of the Patna (Central) SP said.
With PTI inputs