Dhanbad judge's murder: 2 convicts sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment

On July 28, the court had found accused guilty in the murder of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand.

A special CBI court in Jharkhand on Saturday sentenced an autorickshaw driver and another person to rigorous life imprisonment till death in the murder of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand. On July 28, exactly a year after Anand was knocked down during a morning jog, the court had found them guilty in the murder case.

Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand was killed after he was hit by an auto-rickshaw when he was out for his routine morning walk. (FILE PHOTO.)

CBI court judge Rajnikant Pathak held driver Lakhan Verma and his accomplice Rahul Verma guilty in the murder of Anand, who was the additional sessions judge, under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, giving false information to protect offender) and 34 (common intention).

The trial in the murder case had begun in February. The court had registered statements of 58 witnesses during the course of hearing. CCTV camera footage showed that the judge was jogging on one side of a fairly wide road at Randhir Verma Chowk in Dhanbad when the three-wheeler veered towards him, hit him from behind and fled the scene.

An SIT was initially formed to probe the matter, but the Jharkhand government later handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Supreme Court had last year taken took suo motu cognizance of the “sad demise” of a judge and had sought a status report in the matter from Jharkhand’s chief secretary and the DGP. CBI additional public prosecutor Amit Jindal said that the court found that both the accused were not intoxicated.

The court also ruled that it was a case of intentional murder, Jindal maintained.

Defence lawyer Kumar Bimelendu, while talking to media persons, however, stated that the "CBI concocted murder theory". He said Lakhan and Rahul would challenge the verdict in higher court.