'Hospital rivalry': UP doctor shot dead inside his chamber; ex-partner among 3 arrested

BIJNOR: Two days after a paediatric doctor was shot dead inside his chamber in Bijnor's Nagina town by a man posing as a patient, three people, including another doctor, were arrested on Sat for the alleged murder. Police said the crime was pre-planned and was executed when a hospital run by the accused doctor, Neeraj Kumar, started faring poorly financially after the paediatric doctor, Rajkumar, decided to open his own hospital in the district.SP (Bijnor) Abhishek Jha said, "Doctors Neeraj and Rajkumar had worked together at a hospital in Ghaziabad in 2018. In 2022, they jointly opened a hospital in Nagina area. However, disputes arose between them over financial matters and the repayment of a loan. Rajkumar then broke their partnership in 2023 and decided to open his own hospital in Jan 2024."The SP added that the new hospital began attracting more patients, which allegedly caused financial losses to the hospital in Nagina. Enraged by this, Neeraj is believed to have planned the murder and promised Vikas Rs 10 lakh to execute his plan. The latter got Rs 2 lakh in advance, Jha said.The incident happened around 7pm on Thursday when Rajkumar was sitting inside his cabin and a man posing as a patient, under the pretext of showing a pathology report, opened fire at him. The doctor died on the spot.Based on a complaint by Rajkumar's sister, an FIR under BNS section of murder was registered against Vikas, who hailed from Bijnor. During investigation, the shocking involvement of Dr Neeraj along with another man, Aryan, came to the fore. After their arrest, a .315 bore country-made pistol, a .32 bore pistol, cartridges and Rs 2 lakh in cash were recovered from them.