Bihar hospital murder: Arrested Nishu Khan says hitman drove his car to Kolkata
Nishu Khan claimed that the gang members drove to Kolkata in his car after killing gangster Chandan Mishra inside a hospital in Patna , and Taushif Reza drove the vehicle
Kolkata: Nishu Khan, one of the nine people held from Kolkata and its adjacent New Town area on Saturday by state special task force (STF) and Bihar police teams, claimed before the media on Sunday that “his brother” Taushif Reza alias Taushif Badshah got involved in the July 17 murder of gangster Chandan Mishra inside a hospital in Patna “out of ignorance.”
Khan claimed that the gang members drove to Kolkata in his car after killing Mishra, and Taushif drove the vehicle.In the hospital’s security camera footage, Taushif was found to be leading the team of five hitmen, all of whom have been arrested.
“I met Taushif in Patna’s Beur jail two years ago and we became good friends. He is my brother. I kept telling him not to get involved in any wrong activity. I told him repeatedly not to bring bad names to his family. Yet, he got involved out of ignorance,” Nishu Khan told the media while being taken to Kolkata’s Alipore court on Sunday afternoon.
“Taushif surrendered to the Bihar police before the raids. He was on his way back to Patna when it happened,” Khan said.
At the court, the Bihar police prayed for transit remand for four other men alleged to be directly involved in Mishra’s murder inside Patna’s Paras Hospital. The court granted the remand. No Bihar or state police officer talked to the media about the case.
Khan talked to reporters while lying inside an ambulance parked inside the court premises. He said he was shot in the leg in 2023 and was incapable of walking.
“After the murder, I advised Taushif to surrender. I don’t know why Chandan Mishra was killed. It is a false allegation that the murder was planned at my home. I didn’t know anything. I wasn’t there,” Khan said.
Khan claimed that gangster Omkarnath Singh alias Sheru Singh - who is currently lodged at Benga’s Purulia correctional home in connection with a 2023 jewellery showroom robbery and is suspected to have ordered Mishra’s murder - was earlier a friend of the victim.
“Sheru Bhai and Chandan Bhai used to be good friends. I don’t know how they became enemies. I met Taushif and Sheru Bhai in Beur jail when we were lodged there,” said Khan.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a state police officer said the raids were conducted after the Bihar police team visited the Purulia correctional home and questioned Sheru Singh. The officer also claimed that the Bihar police team took Taushif into custody before the raids.
Khan said the gang members had planned to leave Kolkata and find a hideout in Delhi.
“We were about to leave for Delhi when we were arrested. We came to Kolkata in my car from Patna. Taushif drove it. We first tried to find a place in the New Town area but failed. We then went to Park Street (heart of Kolkata) but failed to find an accommodation. We finally came to the guest house at Anandapur,” Khan said.
Police had to take Khan out of the Anandapur guest house on a stretcher after the raid on Saturday night. The operation was held hours after the Bengal and Bihar STF teams raided Flat No 206 in Tower-17 of the M -Block at the Sukhobristi housing complex at New Town in the North 24 Parganas district in the early hours of Saturday.
Officials of the Bidhan Nagar police division said the flat was taken on rent around six years ago by two engineering students from Bihar.
The housing complex has come under focus after Saturday’s arrests because in June 2021 Punjab gangsters Jaipal Singh Bhullar and Jaspreet Jassi were hiding there in a flat taken on rent by a Haryana resident.
Bhullar and Jassi, who were wanted in connection with more than 45 crimes, including the May 15, 2021, murder of two Punjab police sub-inspectors, were killed in an encounter with the Bengal STF on June 9.
A woman, suspected to be a friend of Khan, was also detained from the Anandapur guest house. Preliminary investigation indicated that she helped the gang members find a place to hide.
