Dhanbad judge death: We have got certain leads, CBI tells Ranchi HC

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Jharkhand High Court (HC) on Thursday that they have got “certain leads” in the Dhanbad judge death case, and they are investigating further on those lines, a lawyer participating in the proceedings said.

Forty nine-year-old district judge Uttam Anand died on July 28 this year after he was run over by an auto-rickshaw when he was out for a morning walk in Dhanbad. The two occupants of the three-wheeler, Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma, were later arrested. The CCTV footage from the location had showed that the three-wheeler swerved abruptly to hit the judge from behind. The Supreme Court and the Jharkhand HC had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident, with the HC directing the CBI to file probe status report every week.

Last week, the central agency had informed the court that the district judge was “apparently hit intentionally”. However, the agency said that it was yet to get any concrete evidence to prove the case as that of murder.

Appearing before a division bench of chief justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and justice Sujit Narayan Prasad on Thursday, the CBI said it is interrogating the accused afresh, said the aforementioned lawyer.

Earlier on Tuesday, the CBI had again taken custody of the two arrested accused, who have been in judicial custody in Dhanbad central jail since they were arrested on July 29. They have already got scientific tests such as brain mapping and narcotics test conducted of the two accused.

Bench unhappy with state govt reply on FSL

The bench, meanwhile, expressed unhappiness over the state government’s reply on modernising and upgradation of forensic science laboratories (FSL) in the state.

The government, in its reply, had submitted that it would release funds for upgradation in six months.

“The bench took exception to it and directed the state government to submit a detailed upgradation plan by next week and also directed the state home secretary and FSL director to be present in person during the hearing next week,” a lawyer involved in the proceedings said.