Jharkhand judge death case: CBI charges two accused with murder

The Central Bureau of Investigation charged two men of murder for the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand, NDTV reported, citing the charge sheet filed in the case,

The accused, an autorickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his assistant Rahul Verma, were arrested on July 29 a day after Judge Anand was allegedly killed after the three-wheeler mowed him down.

CCTV camera footage of the incident showed the autorickshaw suddenly swerving towards the judge, walking on an empty road, and running over him.

Along with murder, the CBI has also charged the accused persons under sections of IPC 201 and 34, reported ANI.

Last month, the CBI had told the Jharkhand High Court, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter, that the hit-and-run was done intentionally.

The high court had on September 2 asked the CBI to submit a status report on the investigation.

The Central agency had taken over the case on August 4. Five days later, the Supreme Court had directed CBI to submit weekly reports to the Jharkhand High Court on the progress of the investigation.

Before his death, Judge Uttam Singh Anand had been hearing the murder case of Ranjay Singh, a close confidante of former Jharia MLA Sanjiv Singh. Just three before his death, the Dhanbad judge had also denied bail to Ravi Thakur, a protégé of Uttar Pradesh shooters Abhinav Singh and Aman Singh.

While hearing a suo motu petition on the matter, the supreme court on August 17 had asked the Centre to take steps to protect judges and ensure the safety of courts. The Top court said that the matter of judges’ safety should not be left to the states alone.

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