The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has changed the team investigating the death of Dambad judge Uttam Anand, officials said Saturday.

The development comes after the Jharkhand High Court recently slammed the agency for being “lax” in investigating murders and observed that the CBI appeared to be trying to withdraw from the investigation or even protect the accused.

The team will now be led by Inspector-General of Police (SP) Vikas Kumar, who is stationed at the agency’s Special Crimes Unit in Delhi, officials said. He has replaced VK Shukla.

They said the new team had reached Dhanbad, where they sought the court’s permission to question the two accused, Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma, who have been charged and are being held in the district jail.

The High Court has ordered the CBI to produce drug test reports on the two accused . It said there was a larger conspiracy that should be unearthed.

Officials said the CBI filed charges against auto-rickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his accomplice Rahul Verma under IPC terms in October last year relating to murder (302) and evidence destruction (201) in addition to common intent (34) .

Central agencies have been investigating the case, they said.

The 49-year-old judge was allegedly hit by an auto rickshaw during a morning jog in Dhanbad on July 28, 2021.

CCTV camera footage showed Anand was jogging on the side of a rather wide road in Randhir Verma chowk, Danbad when the auto rickshaw turned towards him, hit him from behind and fled the scene, killing him he.

The case was handed over to the CBI by the Jharkhand government.

They said the agency had taken over two other FIRs from Jharkhand police – linked to the theft of mobile phones and auto-rickshaws used in the crime – to unravel an alleged plot to murder a judge.

Complete News Source : Business Standard