Dhanbad judge’s murder caught on CCTV, CJI says matter taken up by Jharkhand HC

An Additional District Judge (ADJ) of Dhanbad district, Uttam Anand, died after being hit by a three-wheeler in broad daylight on Wednesday. The CCTV footage of the incident suggested foul play, as the vehicle moved left from its lane to hit the judge when there was no other vehicle in that spot.

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.

The hit-and-run case echoed in the chambers of the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The apex court said that the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court has taken up the matter related to the alleged killing and officers concerned in the case have been asked to be present before it.

“This is an attack on the independence of the judiciary. This looks like a premeditated attack on the judge,” said the SCBA.

The Jharkhand High Court chief justice has told the police that if the investigation is not satisfactory, it could be handed over to the CBI.

According to PTI, two people have been arrested in the case so far. Both the arrests were made after recovery of the three-wheeler involved in the incident.

“We have arrested two persons Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma involved in the incident early Thursday morning. Rahul Verma, a resident of Digwadih, Dhanbad has been arrested from Dhanbad Tempo stand while the other was arrested from Mangrudih police station area in Giridih,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad Sanjiv Kumar told PTI.

In her complaint to the police, the judge’s wife Kriti Sinha wrote that her husband left the house at 5 am and when he did not return for long, the family started looking for him. “He was taken to the hospital by locals and an autowala hit him from behind. Please take legal action,” the complaint said.