Bail Jumper Shot 5 Times, Drives Self to Hospital

In Ghaziabad, a 35-year-old man, Rahul Chaudhary, who was out on bail in an extortion case, was critically injured after being shot five times outside a roadside eatery on Thursday night. Despite sustaining bullet wounds to his neck, chest, abdomen, and leg, Chaudhary displayed remarkable resilience by driving himself more than 25 kilometers to Yashoda Hospital. He arrived at the hospital and, after receiving emergency treatment, was moved to the intensive care unit. Police recovered 49-second CCTV footage depicting two men near a scooter as Chaudhary arrived. Approximately 20 seconds later, a third individual approached Chaudhary's Scorpio and opened fire while he was still in the driver's seat. The assailant calmly walked away, while the other two fled on the scooter.

Initial investigations suggest Chaudhary went to the eatery to collect ₹75,000 from two acquaintances, Vinay Vashishth and Arvind Saini, who had asked him to meet there. Chaudhary's wife alleged that a man with a history of over two dozen cases, Jalbeer Pandit, orchestrated the attack, having previously ordered a similar assault on her husband. Police have registered a case against Pandit, Vashishth, Saini, and others for attempted murder and criminal conspiracy, forming five teams to apprehend the accused. Chaudhary himself had a history of 18 cases, including murder and extortion charges, but had been acquitted in seven.