Dhanbad judge death: Two sent to jail, police submit probe report
Two accused were sent to judicial custody on Monday after questioning in connection with the recent death of additional district judge (ADJ) Uttam Anand, even as the special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the incident submitted its report to the Jharkhand high court, which is likely to hear the matter on Tuesday.
ADJ Anand died in the coal city recently on July 28 after being hit by an auto-rickshaw while he was out on his morning walk.
The high court (HC) on Thursday last took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the incident, and directed the state to submit an investigation report by August 3. Later, the Supreme Court also took cognizance of the incident and sought report from the state, even as it clarified it was interesting in the HC hearing related to the matter.
Dhanbad senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sanjiv Kumar confirmed to have submitted the report with the HC, but refused to share details. However, police were probing all possible angles to ascertain the reason leading to the road accident, that killed ADJ Anand, additional director general (operations) Sanjay Anand Lathkar told media persons after a marathon meeting in Dhanbad on Monday .
The case got murkier after a CCTV footage of the incident, which has since triggered an outcry, shows the auto-rickshaw swerving to extreme left from middle of the road near the magistrate colony and hit Anand from behind before speeding away, pointing to an alleged hitand-run case. The police, however, were yet to come on record about the motive of the accused behind the accident.
A day after the incident, the two accused persons, Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma, riding the three-wheeler, which was allegedly stolen, were arrested and the vehicle recovered.
“Different teams are looking into the incident. They have been given specific leads to work on. We are leaving no possible angle to crack the case,” Lathkar said.
On a specific question if the police would go for narcotics test of the two accused arrested in the case, Lathkar said, “If required, we will use all scientific techniques in the course of investigation.”
Meanwhile, since the SIT took over the case, a total of 243 persons were called for questioning in the case. “Most of these persons have a criminal history. However, all of them were released after questioning,” the SSP said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Hemant Soren government recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident. However, the central investigation agency was yet to begin probe in the case.
Different teams are looking into the incident. They have been given specific leads to work on. We are leaving no possible angle to crack the case.
SANJAY ANAND LATHKAR, ADG (operations)