The Jharkhand police on Thursday arrested two persons, including the driver of the autorickshaw that “deliberately” knocked down fatally Uttam Anand, Additional Sessions Judge of Dhanbad, on Wednesday morning.
The incident happened when he was jogging on an empty road about 500 metres away from his official residence. A passer-by took him to a hospital but he was declared brought dead.
Supreme Court swings into action after Jharkhand judge’s death
The judge was hearing two high-profile murder cases and one pertaining to illegal coal transportation (theft).
Initially, it was thought to be a hit-and-run case. But after the emergence of a close circuit television (CCTV)footage, which has since gone viral, it became clear that the hit was deliberate.
The footage shows the autorickshaw suddenly veering towards the judge, who was running along the extreme left side of the road, and hitting him. After post-mortem, his body was sent to his home in Hazaribag district for last rites.
The footage found resonance in the Supreme Court.
SIT formed
The police constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under Dhanbad Superintendent of Police (City) R. Ramkumar to probe the case.
Addressing a press conference later in the day, Dhanbad’s Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar said, “a case was registered under 302 of the IPC. We analysed CCTV footage that captured the place of the incident. We managed to arrest Lakhan Verma, the autorickshaw driver, and another person, Rahul Verma. The autorickshaw used in the crime was also seized from Girdih district. We are carrying forward the investigation in close coordination between forensic team and personnel of the crime investigation department”.
The two arrested persons had previous involvement in some petty theft cases and police stations were alerted to provide more information about them, he stated.
Auto stolen
Police sources said the autorickshaw was stolen around 2 a.m. and the judge was knocked down at 5 a.m. Its owner had been identified.
The Jharkhand High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter. “The incident is condemnable. The government is very sensitive to the issue. What appears from the footage is that it was a case of murder. The police administration took prompt action and picked up two persons. The culprit will not be spared,” said Rajiv Ranjan, Jharkhand Advocate General.
The progress of the investigation would be submitted in the High Court. An officer of Additional Director General of Police would supervise the SIT investigation.
