SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 2: While the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Sanjay Anand Lathkar is yet to get any breakthrough in Dhanbad District & Sessions Judge -8 Uttam Anand death case, the district police till the late night of Sunday raided 55 hotels in search of suspected conspirators.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanjiv Kumar said hotels’ rooms were searched and registers were screened to find out who stayed and checked out from hotels in the last one week. This was the first time police raided 55 hotels simultaneously at night.
The SSP said though the police have already recovered the auto involved in the incident, police have seized 250 other autos (three-heelers) on basis of irregularities in their vehicle’s paper. As per official records, 16,000 autos are registered with the transport department in Dhanbad.
Anand was killed on Wednesday last in a road mishap while he was on a morning walk at Randhir Verma chowk under Sadar police station near the district court. Police seized the auto and arrested the driver and his accomplices the same day.
Special squads of district police also raided Dhanbad’s divisional jail and interrogated some notorious criminals about the accident.
. “ We also launched a special drive and took 243 in custody across the district for interrogation about the accident. Also, 17 persons have been arrested from different police stations.
Sanjiv Kumar said a sub-inspector who made the accident CCTV footage viral has been suspended. The Officer-in-charge of Pathaldih police station has been also suspended for the delay in lodging the FIR after the accident. The auto owner had claimed that her vehicle (auto) was stolen on Tuesday night from the residence in the Pathaldih area.
Meanwhile, the SIT has also failed to trace the bike rider who was running behind the auto which hit the judge.
The State government on July 29 constituted SIT under Sanjay Anand Lathkar to probe and submit a report. Inspector General (IG) Priya Dubey, DIG Bokaro range Mayur Patel, Dhanbad SSP Sanjiv Kumar are other members of SIT.
A senior police officer involved in the probe of the incident said that recommendation of the state government for a CBI inquiry has slowed down the pace of SIT investigation. “ We don’t know when the CBI would take over the case from us. However, we are trying to complete the report and would submit the initial report in Jharkhand High Court by Tuesday”, the official said requesting anonymity.
Official sources said police are also investigating the cases which ADJ Uttam Anand had heard in the Courts of Bokaro and Dhanbad and awarded punishment. ADJ Uttam Anand had been transferred to Dhanbad from Bokaro merely six months back. In Dhanbad, he was hearing high-profile murder cases.
However, Dhanbad Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Kumar said the SIT and district police have been working on their planned way and they would reach the conclusion soon. “ If needed police would seek permission for lie detector test of the arrested accused,” he said.
