NEW DELHI: Two men suspected of involvement in the murder of gangster Chandan Mishra were injured in a police encounter in Arrah on Tuesday, officials said. The encounter occurred during a joint operation by the Bihar Special Task Force (STF) and Bhojpur district police.
The injured suspects, identified as Balwant Kumar Singh and Ravi Ranjan Kumar Singh, were taken to a hospital for treatment. Police recovered two pistols and a magazine from the scene.
Mishra, who was out on parole for a liver surgery, was gunned down inside a Patna hospital by assailants posing as visitors. CCTV footage from the hospital helped identify several members of the group involved.
The latest shootout followed the arrest of five suspects from a guest house in Kolkata’s Anandapur area on July 17, in a coordinated operation by Bihar’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) and West Bengal’s Special Task Force (STF). Previously, another five individuals were detained from a residential complex in New Town, Kolkata, for allegedly sheltering the accused.
According to investigators, the gang was led by Tauseef Badshah and had been evading authorities by frequently changing SIM cards and moving across state lines. However, they were eventually tracked down using IMEI surveillance data. A white sedan used in the Patna hospital escape was also recovered.
Sources revealed that the suspects initially sought refuge in New Town but were denied lodging, prompting them to relocate to Anandapur, where they were finally apprehended.
Meanwhile, five Bihar police personnel from Patna’s Shastri Nagar police station, under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls, have been suspended for negligence in connection with the murder.
All ten suspects are currently being interrogated as the investigation into the high-profile case continues.
