The Supreme Court Friday took suo motu cognisance of the sad demise of a judge who was allegedly mowed down in Dhanbad and sought a status report within a week from Jharkhand's Chief Secretary and the DGP on the investigation into the incident.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the Jharkhand High Court would keep monitoring the probe.
The apex court said it has been taking suo motu cognizance of attacks on judicial officers and legal fraternity across the country.
The bench indicated it might seek reports from the concerned state governments.
"This Dhanbad case has wider ramifications. We are getting reports that judicial officers are being attacked around the country. We intend to examine this and may seek report from all states," CJI Ramana was quoted as saying by ndtv.com.
The bench, which also comprised Justice Surya Kant, issued notice to all the states and specifically sought the presence of Jharkhand Advocate General when it hears the case next week.
On Thursday, the top court said the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court has already taken up the matter related to the alleged killing of the judicial officer.
District and Sessions Judge-8 of Dhanbad court, Uttam Anand, was out on a morning walk on Wednesday when he was killed by an auto-rickshaw at Randhir Verma Chowk near the district court in the Sadar police station area, stepping up investigations into his death that has led to a nationwide outrage among the legal fraternity which believes he was murdered.
Justice Anand was hearing a case concerning sharpshooters allegedly working at the behest of a UP ganglord.
Dhanbad police, which had set up a special investigation team headed by city SP R Ramkumar on Wednesday, revealed that the two were arrested in the wee hours of Thursday.
"Based on all available evidence and CCTV footage, police launched a search operation for the auto-rickshaw and its driver. Finally, we were able to arrest the driver, Lakhan Verma of Sonarpatti, and another person, Rahul Verma of Jorapokhar," said Dhanbad SSP Kumar.
Dhanbad police have, however, refused to divulge further details of their investigations. They have also indicated their unwillingness to comment on the motive of the killing given the sensitive nature of the case.
Kumar said, “We are investigating the case from all angles. But as the case is sensitive we are not in a position to share any details with regard to our findings until the investigation is completed."
He said Coal Belt DIG Mayur Patel had also inspected the site of the incident and had issued necessary instructions to a local forensics team that is also part of the investigations.
Asked if the arrested duo had criminal antecedents, Kumar said they may have been involved in a theft earlier, but that police were still collecting details. "We are collecting details as a theft case seems to have been lodged in their names,” he said.
Anand’s family members had lodged an FIR on Wednesday, calling his death an act of murder. But Kumar has clarified that his family had not named any suspect. "A case under section 302 IPC has been registered, but nobody has been named in the case,” he said.
The auto-rickshaw was recovered by police from Giridih district on Thursday and brought to Dhanbad police station where the forensics team conducted a thorough scan. The forensics team visited the site of the accident on Thursday morning once again and collected more evidence.
