The CBI has set up a Special Investigation Team and is proceeding to Dhanbad.
Photo: IANS
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case in connection with the death of Dhanbad Additional District Judge Uttam Anand at the request of the Jharkhand government and constituted an SIT.
CBI spokesperson R.C. Joshi said: “CBI has today registered a case related to the death of Uttam Anand, ADJ Dhanbad, on the request of Jharkhand Government and further notification from the Centre and taken over the investigation.” Joshi said that the CBI has set up a Special Investigation Team and it is proceeding to Dhanbad.
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This comes days after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren recommended a CBI probe into the matter and “assured that justice would prevail.”
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Judge Uttam Anand had gone for a morning walk at Randhir Verma Chowk on Wednesday, July 28, when an auto-rickshaw came from behind, swerved sharply to the left, and drove him away after hitting him. A passerby took Anand to a hospital but he succumbed to his injuries later. A case was earlier registered by the Dhanbad police.
After the CCTV footage surfaced, the Jharkhand government had formed an SIT to probe the matter. But, later it recommended the CBI probe into the death.
The SIT probing the killing of the judge has so far not made any headway, despite arresting a total of 17 people in the case including autorickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his associate Rahul Verma.
On Tuesday, the Jharkhand High Court Tuesday directed the CBI to start the probe into the death of the judge at the earliest, so that no evidence is destroyed, and directed the state government to provide all logistics support and documents to the agency.
The court also directed the Jharkhand DGP to ensure security to the judicial officers in the state, and ensure deployment of security guards at their houses. It also wanted to know, if the incident took place at 5.08 a.m., why the FIR was lodged at 12.45 p.m.
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