Brazen Hospital Shooting Exposes Bihar's Security Crisis

Five gunmen stormed a Patna medical facility, killed a notorious criminal in broad daylight.

In a shocking display of lawlessness that has sent ripples across Bihar, five armed men casually walked into Patna's Paras Hospital on Thursday morning and gunned down a notorious criminal who was receiving treatment under parole. The entire incident, captured on the hospital's CCTV cameras, has reignited concerns about the deteriorating law and order situation in the eastern state.

The victim was Chandan Mishra, a tough criminal of Buxar district with dozens of murder charges against him, who was on medical parole at the time of the attack. Hospital feeds indicate that the attackers gain easy entry into the hospital, move to the Mishra room and start firing before escaping on motorbikes.

The fact that the attackers were able to penetrate the security measures of the hospital so easily is what makes this incident so disturbing. Visitors are frisked, and there are strict checkpoints with Paras Hospital being one of the best healthcare institutions in Patna. But the gunmen got access to the ICU ward unnoticed.

The Kasauli police have provisionally concluded, around our source,s that a competitor gang could be involved here, one of the gangs could be the Chandan Sheru gang. "We are working with Buxar police to identify the attackers whose faces have been captured on CCTV," Sharma stated.

The police are also investigating whether hospital staff or security personnel may have facilitated the attack, raising serious questions about internal security protocols at medical facilities housing high-risk patients.

The hospital shooting has become the latest flashpoint in Bihar's deteriorating security landscape. Over the past fortnight, Patna has witnessed a spate of high-profile killings, including businessman Gopal Khemka, BJP leader Surendra Kewat, and lawyer Jitendra Mahato.

Opposition RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav seized on the incident to attack the Nitish Kumar government. "Government-backed criminals stormed into an ICU and shot a patient. Is anyone safe anywhere in Bihar?" he questioned, drawing parallels to the infamous "jungle raj" era of the 1990s.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha attempted damage control, calling the incident "deeply unfortunate" and promising swift action against the perpetrators.

While Bihar's Director General of Police Vinay Kumar maintains that overall crime rates have declined since 2004, the brazen nature of recent attacks suggests a worrying trend. The fact that criminals can target rivals even in supposedly secure environments like hospitals indicates a breakdown in institutional security.

The incident has also highlighted the challenges of managing high-risk prisoners on medical parole. Mishra's case demonstrates how even temporary release for medical treatment can become a vulnerability that criminal rivals exploit.

As Bihar heads toward state elections later this year, the law and order situation is likely to become a central campaign issue. The hospital shooting, with its dramatic CCTV footage and broad daylight execution, provides potent ammunition for opposition parties seeking to challenge the ruling coalition's governance credentials.

The investigation continues as authorities work to identify and apprehend the attackers, but the damage to public confidence in the state's security apparatus may prove harder to repair.