RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, July 11: Almost a year after the CBI court in Dhanbad sentenced life imprisonment to two in lower court judge Uttam Anand murder case, a CBI probe is still on.
A hearing before the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen reflected where the CBI counsel appeared to file a status report of the case saying the probe agency is waiting for WhatsApp chats of the convicts from the US investigative agency. The central probe agency’s advocate informed the court that the union ministry of home affairs contacted the US probe agency for the purpose.
As the court knew the status of the probe, it deferred hearing in the matter till September 19.
On August 6 last year, Special Judge Rajinikanth Pathak of the CBI Court had sentenced Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma in the case. They were convicted on July 28 last year.
Charges were framed against them in the court on February 2, 2022. On 7 March 2022, the first witness testified in the case. Within 3 months, the court completed the statements of a total of 58 witnesses. On behalf of the CBI, Special Prosecutor of Crime Branch Amit Jindal argued in the case. Advocate Kumar Vimlendu of DLSA was the defence lawyer.
On July 28, 2021, a judge was knocked to death by an auto rickshaw during morning walk in Dhanbad. The Jharkhand High Court had taken suo moto cognizance of the matter after his death. The court had handed the case to the CBI and the probe is still on.
