Dhanbad judge hit-and-run case: CBI takes over investigation after Jharkhand High Court order

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took over the probe into the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand who was mowed down by a vehicle while on a morning jog on 28 July, officials said. A 20-member team has been set by the CBI to probe the matter. It has left for Dhanbad, they said, adding that it will be followed by a Central Forensic Science Laboratory team. Officials said the agency has received the Jharkhand government’s request, routed through the Centre, to investigate the matter. Sources said according to the laid down procedure, the agency has taken over Dhanbad police FIR in the matter. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on July 31 had decided to hand over the probe into the hit-and-run case of the 49-year-old Dhanbad judge to the CBI. CCTV footage showed that the judge was jogging on one side of a fairly wide road at Randhir Verma Chowk when a heavy auto-rickshaw veered towards him, hit him from behind and fled. Doctors at the hospital declared him brought dead. The central probe agency had informed the Jharkhand High Court on August 3 that it has received the state government’s letter to take over the probe a day earlier. The bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad had directed the CBI to initiate a probe at the earliest. It had also directed the government to hand over all the documents of the case to the CBI. Taking cognisance of a letter filed before the court by the Dhanbad principal district judge in the case, Justice Ranjan had converted it into a writ petition and ordered the formation of an SIT headed by Additional Director General of Police Sanjay Latkar to look into the matter. The bench, dissatisfied with the progress report, had questioned why there was a delay in registering an FIR into the case. The incident occurred at 5.08 am, and the FIR was registered at 12.45 pm when it was clear from CCTV footage that the judge was picked up from the spot and taken to a hospital, the court had said. “Do the police register an FIR only on the basis of a statement? Do the police not register an FIR on their own? Why did the police take six hours to register the FIR?” it had asked. The court said that there is fear among judicial officers following the incident and directed that the security of courts, including the high court, and judicial officers be strengthened. The Supreme Court on July 30 had also taken suo motu cognizance of the “sad demise” of the Dhanbad judge. “We direct the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand to submit a report in a week’s time on the status of the investigation on the sad demise of additional district and sessions Judge Uttam Anand, a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had said.