Jharkhand : 243 suspects in custody, 17 arrested in judge’s death case

Two police officers suspended

Dhanbad Police has detained 243 persons, arrested 17 others and suspended two police officers in connection with the suspicious death of Additional District and Sessions Judge (VIII) Uttam Anand in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.

According to the information received from the Senior Superintendent of Police, Dhanbad, 243 people have been detained in connection with the death of the judge under suspicious circumstances, 17 suspects have been arrested while in the registration of FIR for theft of the auto that hit the judge. Umesh Manjhi, in-charge of Pathardih police station has been suspended for the delay. Trainee Inspector Adarsh Kumar has also been suspended for making the CCTV footage of the accident public, he said.

Justice Anand, who was out for a morning walk on July 28, was hit from behind by an auto rickshaw on his way, killing him on the spot. On the instructions of the Jharkhand High Court, the Director General of Police had constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter under the supervision of the High Court.

Police had told that the auto driver Lakhan Kumar Verma is a resident of Sunar Patti in Dhanbad, while the second accused Rahul Verma is also a local resident and Lakhan Kumar Verma has admitted that he was driving the auto at the time of the incident. He was arrested from Giridih while the second accused Rahul Verma was arrested from Dhanbad station. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren recommended a CBI probe into the entire matter, which has been welcomed by the relatives of the late judge.