PATNA: An undertrial prisoner, Chandan Kumar alias Chandan Mishra of Buxar district, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants at a private hospital in Patna on Thursday. Chandan, currently in the real estate business, had a criminal background, was undergoing treatment at the facility when the attackers shot him dead.
Confirming the incident, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kartikey Sharma said that the deceased was lodged in the Beur Central Jail in Patna in connection with a murder case. “He was admitted to the hospital after being released on parole after his health condition deteriorated in prison,” he said.
According to the SSP it is believed that gang rivalry led to the killing. “Efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the criminals involved in the killing of the undertrial,” he said, adding that CCTV footage has been obtained from the health facility for the purpose.
The daylight murder of the undertrial in the hospital has raised questions over the law-and-order situation in the state. A prominent businessman, Gopal Khemka, advocate Jitendra Kumar Mehta, and sand dealer Ramakant Yadav are among the latest victims who fell prey to bullets of criminals.
Contract Killers’ Cell Bihar Police’s Special Task Force (STF) has set up a separate “cell” to maintain a data bank of the contract killers operating in the state.
Talking to the media, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) (Headquarters) Kundan Krishnan said that “it has been witnessed that some of the youths have been found indulging in contract killing for money. A new cell has been constituted to keep a tab on contract killers. A data bank of these contract killers will be maintained to check their activities in future.”
Stating that a complete “dossier” will be prepared of each contract killer, ADGP Krishnan said that the cell will keep their physical description, photograph, along with their name, address and other details so that their movement can be tracked even after coming out of jail. Police personnel in districts have been asked to keep a tab on such contract killers, he added.
Police have so far identified 1,290 persons who have acquired proceeds of crime, and their assets will be seized soon, ADG said. The instructions to collect data of such individuals were issued to officers in the districts following a high-level meeting of senior police officers with chief minister Nitish Kumar recently.