RANCHI: A special CBI court on Thursday convicted two persons in the murder of Dhanbad Judge Uttam Anand exactly a year after he was knocked down during a morning walk.
CBI court judge Rajnikant Pathak held autorickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his aide Rahul Verma guilty in the murder of Anand, who was the additional sessions judge, under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, giving false information to protect offender) and 34 (common intention). The quantum of punishment for the convicts will be pronounced on August 6.
“The special CBI Court has convicted the two accused persons – Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma – under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of IPC for killing additional sessions judge Uttam Anand,” said CBI special public prosecutor Amit Jindal.
Trial in the murder case had begun in February this year. The court had registered statements of 58 witnesses during the course of the hearing.
CCTV footage showed that the judge was jogging on one side of a wide road in Dhanbad when the three-wheeler veered towards him, hit him from behind and fled the scene.
Initially, an SIT was formed to probe the matter, but the Jharkhand government later handed over the case to the CBI. The Supreme Court had last year sought a status report in the matter from Jharkhand’s chief secretary and the DGP.
Trial began in Feb this year; sentenciing on August 6
Additional sessions judge Uttam Anand was mowed down by an autorickshaw during his morning walk in Dhanbad on July 28, 2021.
A video of the incident went viral on social media. The quantum of punishment for the convicts will be pronounced on August 6.