The Jharkhand High Court has recently taken suo moto cognizance of the gruesome murder of Uttam Anand, a Dhanbad district Additional District Judge (ADJ), who had been smashed by a four-wheeled vehicle in broad daylight on July 28th (Wednesday).
The bench, led by Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan, has issued a directive requiring the Dhanbad SSP to appear in court on July 29th (Thursday).
Judge Anand went out for an early stroll near the Magistrate Colony in Dhanbad when a car intentionally struck him, according to CCTV evidence.
The image of an anonymous individual on a four-wheeler shortly before and after the event is captured on CCTV footage. He's thought to be one of the perpetrators of a suspected foul play.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh took the terrible event to the Supreme Court's notice in morning, demanding a CBI probe. The matter has been picked up by the Jharkhand High Court, according to the Chief Justice of India.
According to the authorities, the CCTV evidence clearly shows that the car hit him on purpose. The car was discovered to be stolen after an inspection.
Judge Anand had previously rejected the bail pleas of two gangsters in Dhanbad town, where he had been overseeing several cases of mafia killings. A murder case against MLA Sanjeev Singh's close associate Ranjay Singh was also underway in his court.
Other Facts regarding the Incident:
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Dhanbad, Sanjiv Kumar, told the media PTI that the arrests have been made after the three-wheeler involved in the incident was recovered.
Anand, the Dhanbad court's district and sessions judge-8, was running on one side of a reasonably broad road at Randhir Verma Chowk July 28th (Wednesday) morning when a large auto-rickshaw drove approaching him, struck him from behind, and left the scene, according to CCTV evidence. This aroused suspicions that it wasn't a hit-and-run accident and that the car intentionally slammed into him. Locals transported him to a local hospital, where doctors immediately proclaimed him dead.
As per court insiders in Dhanbad, Anand, who is renowned for being a stern judge, recently rejected the bail requests of a number of gangsters. It is too early to relate this decision to the hit-and-run case, according to police.
The auto-rickshaw was taken about 2 a.m. on July 28th, according to police officials. At about 5 a.m., the judge was attacked.
After the widow of the 49-year-old dead judge made a complaint with the Dhanbad Police, a FIR was registered in the matter. The matter will be investigated by a special investigation team (SIT) led by Dhanbad SP R. Ramkumar. On July 29th, Thursday, a five-member forensic team went to the scene of the event to gather evidence for the inquiry.
Likewise, the Dhanbad Bar Association alleged that Anand, a Hazaribag resident, was murdered and requested a thorough investigation into the matter. However according to Dhanbad Bar Association, President Amarendra Sahay, all lawyers in the Dhanbad Bar Association would march in silence on Friday in protest of the judge's murder and to seek government security for lawyers.
Hemant Sikarwa, a member of the Jharkhand Bar Council, condemned the event and requested a CBI investigation.
The Jharkhand high court has ordered a SIT investigation into Anand's death, which would be led by additional Director General of police Sanjay Latkar.
Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan transformed a document filed before the court by the Dhanbad principal district judge in the matter into a writ petition and mandated the creation of the SIT. He claimed that Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana had spoken to him about the subject and expressed confidence that the case would be investigated fairly.
The high court indicated that it will keep an eye on the investigation and will request reports from the SIT on a regular basis. The matter would be passed onto the CBI if it seems to the court at any stage that the inquiry is not going in the correct path, the chief judge stated.
