Dhanbad judge's death: Jharkhand High Court orders CBI probe; autopsy results released

In a key development in the suspicious death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe. Uttam Anand died after a vehicle hit him near the Magistrate Colony, Dhanbad on July 28. The attack was caught on CCTV and makes for highly suspicious viewing, with the vehicle in question appearing to swerve towards the judge on a complately empty road. 

The autopsy report of Anand states, "He died of a head injury. He sustained three injuries in form of abrasions and seven internal injuries. All these injuries are antemortem, caused by hard and blunt substances."

Subham Sambhu, the younger brother of Uttam Anand had reportedly said that the CCTV footage makes it very clear that it has been done as part of the conspiracy. The family demanded an impartial probe, after which the Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who had gone to meet the family, recommended that the investigation into the alleged killing of Justice Uttam Anand be handed over to the CBI. Taking into consideration, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe.

Dhanbad Judge's death: Investigation so far

So far the Jharkhand Police, which had been probing the matter, have seized the auto which was allegedly used for the crime. It has also arrested two main accused, identified as Lakhan Kumar Verma and Rahul Verma. The duo has confessed to the crime, said Amol Vinukant Homkar, Inspector General (Ops).

Earlier in the day, the police got permission from Dhanbad court to conduct four tests including narco, layered voice analysis, and brain mapping of both accused arrested in the case. The tests will be done at Gujarat FSL. 

Meanwhile, 17 others in the course of searches across 53 hotels in the state have been arrested while 243 old, listed criminals have been detained and interrogated on grounds of suspicion.  Also, one sub-inspector, and one in charge of the Pathardih station who allegedly circulated the CCTV footage in which the auto is seen hitting the deceased Judge has been put under suspension, as per Dhanbad SSP Sanjeev Kumar.