Patna hospital murder: 5 held in Bengal, prime suspects manage to flee, say police

Kolkata: At least five people have been arrested from New Town near Kolkata in connection with the murder of gangster Chandan Mishra in a Patna hospital, police said on Saturday.

However, the prime suspects, who were allegedly hiding in the city managed to flee, prompting police to launch a renewed search operation, a senior officer claimed.

The five arrested, who were apprehended from a housing complex in the satellite township of the metropolis following raids conducted jointly by the Bihar Police and the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) in the early hours of Saturday, were "providing logistics" to the five main accused who killed Mishra, an officer said.

According to CCTV camera footage, the prime suspects escaped the city in a white vehicle, which was spotted passing through Basanti Highway near here, the officer said.

The vehicle was later seen moving through the jurisdictions of three police stations - Anandapur, Kolkata Leather Complex, and Bhangar, he added.

Police have begun questioning the five arrested accused, who were living in two separate flats in the housing complex in New Town area, the officer said, adding that their mobile phones and other documents have been seized.

During Saturday's raid conducted around 5.38 am, one person was arrested from a place outside the housing complex, and after questioning him, four others were held from inside two flats, he said.

"These people supposedly helped the criminals in hiding and also in their transportation. We are checking their call lists, their WhatsApp messenger chats in connection with our probe into the matter," the officer said.

Mishra, a resident of Buxar district of Bihar, was shot dead by gunmen inside a private hospital in Patna on Thursday morning. He was a murder convict out on parole.

"Their mobile phone tower location helped us track them. Bihar Police will produce them before a local court, seeking transit remand," he said.

A purported CCTV footage of the incident, which went viral on social media, showed five armed men entering the ICU of the hospital and opening fire at Mishra.

Mishra was lodged at Beur Jail and had gone to the hospital for treatment on parole, police said, adding that he was involved in 24 criminal cases, including over 12 murder cases.

SP Patna (Central) Diksha had told PTI on Friday that a probe is underway as to how the criminals managed to reach the room where Mishra was admitted without any security check.

"This raises serious questions over the security arrangements at the hospital. Five unmasked armed assailants reached the second floor, opened fire at Mishra, and fled the premises. Investigators are certainly looking into any complicity that may have led to the security lapse," she had said.