Gunmen casually stroll into Indian hospital & kill ‘notorious criminal’ recovering from surgery

Five gunmen strolled into a private hospital room, killing a man who had been convicted of several murder charges and was out on parole for treatment.

CCTV footage showed that around 7:15am on Jul. 17, the men strolled into a room on the hospital’s second floor, each carrying a gun, The Indian Express reported.

The victim, 36-year-old Chandan Mishra, was killed by several gunshot wounds, fired by the men at close range.

“Notorious criminal”

The police said that Mishra had been serving a life sentence for the 2011 murder of businessman Rejendra Kurmar.

Described as a “notorious criminal” by Police Inspector General Jintendra Rana, Mishra had also been charged in over 24 criminal cases, including murder, conspiracy, extortion and arms violations, across multiple police stations in the Indian state of Bihar.

The police also confirmed that the murder is rooted in an old rivalry between Mishra and a gangster named Sheru. They had once been allies, but became estranged while they were in jail, NDTV reported.

An independent member of parliament from Bihar, Rajesh Ranjan, told reporters that he received a call warning him not to interfere with the case.

“We are silent due to the law, but it will not take long to destroy your empire if needed,” he said.

The killers

According to the police, the man leading the group into the room was identified as Tauseef Badshah. He had recently started taking on contract killings and provided the necessary logistics to support such operations.

Footage showed that after shots were fired, Tauseef did not run as the other assailants had, but instead appeared unfazed as he strutted out of the room behind them.

Hindustan Times reported that CCTV footage from near the hospital showed six individuals, who appear to be related to the shooting, riding motorbikes. One raised his hands in the air as he wielded a gun.

The inspector general has confirmed that all six assailants have been detained.

Crime rates soaring

According to The Times of India, the police addressed a press conference the same day, noting a recent surge in shootings in Bihar, which they attributed to seasonal patterns and an upcoming state election drawing more attention to the crimes.

As quoted by news agency ANI, Bihar’s Additional Director General of Police, Kundan Krishnan, said that there are typically more murders between April and June, because “most farmers don’t have much work” during the period before the monsoon season arrives.

"Once the rains begin, people from the agrarian community get busy, and the number of such incidents goes down. However, due to consistent media coverage of one murder after another – and given that this is also an election year – political parties have started focusing more on such incidents,” he explained.

He added that the police have formed a group tasked with creating a database of known shooters and contract killers, as well as monitoring them.

Top image via Simab Akhtar/X & PRATEEK BAJPAI/X