Patna: Giridih police on Thursday morning found the three wheeler which was used to knock down Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand during his morning walk on Wednesday morning. Three people from Sonarpatti area of Muffassil police station were arrested and taken to Dhanbad for interrogation.
Uttam Anand was killed at 5.08am while he was taking a morning walk near Randhir Verma Chowk, close to the Judges colony in the heart of Coal capital-Dhanbad. After hitting the judge, the auto moved towards Govindpur on NH 2(GT Road) where it refilled at a petrol pump. Following the CCTV footage, the police traced the auto towards Giridih.
Judge Anand was found lying on the road, bleeding, by a man who took him to hospital. He died in hospital, according to the police. He remained unidentified, however, for hours.
The auto used in the attack, as seen in the viral video, was stolen on Tuesday night from Patahardih near Jharia and after removing the number plate, the alleged killers had reached Judges colony area in the wee hours. The owner of the auto, Sugni Devi had complained to the police about the stolen auto.
The police say the CCTV footage makes it clear the auto hit him deliberately. "Two people - Lakhan Kumar Verma and Rahul Verma - have been arrested and the auto was seized. They have confessed," said Amol Vinukant Homkar, Inspector General.
The quarters of the judges is located near the Collectorate and District Court and is walking distance from Randhir Verma Chowk, named after the then SP of Dhanbad, who was gunned down by terrorists during an encounter at Bank More in 1992.
Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court, Ravi Ranjan, who received a call from the chief justice of India, has taken suo motu cognizance of Uttam Anand's "murder" and summoned SP and DIG to Ranchi in the afternoon.
DIG of Bokaro police range, Mayur Patel, who visited the site of the "accident" and met Uttam Anand's family members, said, "It is a clear case of murder, not an accident".
Dhanbad MP Pashupati Nath Singh and MLA Raj Sinha, who also talked to the judge's family members said that law and order is at worst in Dhanbad. "The judge who was murdered was hearing some sensitive cases. There should be a CBI inquiry". Mathura Prasad Mahto, former minister and JMM MLA from Giridih also demanded CBI probe into the "murder".
The judge was hearing the case of murder of the close aide of Sanjeev Singh, once a muscleman of the coal fields and a former MLA from Jharia. The judge had rejected the bail applications of the shooters who are lodged in Hotwar central jail. He was also hearing another sensitive case of bomb explosions in the house of a coal trader, Rajesh Gupta
Dhanbad had been notorious for the gang wars and several trade union leaders have been gunned down for control over coal business and transportation. The movie 'Gangs of Wasseypur' is an accurate representation of the dark side of Dhanbad.
With agency inputs
