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Accused in Dhanbad judge death case were ‘drug addicts’, on police radar for petty thefts

Rahul Verma (20) and Lakhan Verma (22) are suspected of stealing vehicles, mobile phones and money. Rahul, police say, had been sent to a juvenile correction facility when he was a minor.

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Dhanbad: The two accused in the alleged murder of Dhanbad additional district judge Uttam Anand — Rahul Verma and Lakhan Verma — were on the police radar for petty thefts, ThePrint has learnt.

The judge had died on 28 July after being hit by a three-wheeler while on his morning walk.  

Sources in the Jharkhand Police told ThePrint that one of the accused, 20-year-old Rahul Verma, had been sent to a juvenile correction facility when he was a minor. 

“Rahul had previously been arrested for stealing cellphones. We suspect he had stolen money from a food outlet he used to work in,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, said. 

As for Lakhan, the officer said, “He was on our radar for a long time. He has been suspected of stealing vehicles and mobile phones.”

Neighbours of the duo, at Sonharpati slum in Dhanbad, claim that they were drug addicts. 

“We suspect he has been stealing from the slum. Being next door to him, we always used to keep our doors shut as he would turn up inebriated at odd hours,” said a 31-year-old neighbour of Lakhan. 

A member of the Jharkhand Special Investigation Team (SIT) had earlier told ThePrint that Rahul and the 22-year-old Lakhan Verma had on the night of 27 July, consumed ‘illicit liquor’ at the Dhanbad Railway Station after which they popped in N10 or Nitrosun 10 tablets. 

The duo allegedly stole an autorickshaw and at around 5 am on 28 July, hit the additional district judge and drove off. 

The judge’s death has been linked to the high-profile cases that he was hearing, and the Jharkhand High Court, taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, has handed over the investigation to the CBI.  

SSP Dhanbad Sanjiv Kumar refused to share case details. “Since the case has now been handed over to the CBI, we cannot share any information. We will need permission from the CBI to share any information with the press,” he said.

Jharkhand Police PRO Amol Homkar too refused to share details.

State police officers, however, did confirm that an FIR had been filed against Rahul under Section 379 of the IPC (theft) when he was a minor. 


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‘Shaved his head and paraded him’

Rahul is the oldest of six children of Naresh Saw and Anita Devi. 

His father Naresh Saw told ThePrint that his youngest child is just 5 years old. “It is difficult to feed so many mouths, which is why Rahul would pick up odd jobs to be able to put food on the table,” Saw said.

The father claimed that Rahul would often wash utensils or clean them at hotels. He added that his son was unable to hold onto these jobs because he would allegedly end up stealing from his employers. 

“After he hit the judge, he came back home that night and told us about the accident. We asked him to leave but he insisted that he wanted to go to work the next morning,” Saw said. 

According to a second Jharkhand police officer, Rahul had once been apprehended by villagers for allegedly stealing.

“Three years ago, during Ganesh Puja, Rahul was caught stealing a mobile phone after which the slum residents shaved his head and paraded him around,” the officer said. “He was arrested and an FIR was filed. Since he was a minor then, he was brought before the Juvenile Justice Board, which let the boy go after a few days of jail time.” 

Lakhan’s family refused to speak on the issue. “He has brought shame to our family and we have cut all our ties with him,” his brother said. 

Rahul’s mother claimed that the two were ‘enemies’ and had gotten into a fistfight last month. “On 5 July, Lakhan stole our auto-rickshaw. This led to an altercation in which Lakhan had threatened our son. I think he blackmailed him into joining him in the crime,” she claimed. 

Neighbours, however, said the two were thick as thieves and were often found in an intoxicated state in the village maidan

Sonharpati slum

Sonharpati slum in Dhanbad, where the duo lived, has open drains and still doesn’t have flowing water. 

It is largely inhabited by daily wagers, auto drivers and mechanics. Families of 5-7 members live in one-room houses, and average daily incomes vary between Rs 150 a day to Rs 300 a day. The nearest school in the area is 6 km away and the pandemic has made the situation worse.

Right across the road of the slum is a Ram mandir, which villagers claim is where most of the “illicit drugs” that the duo consumed was initially sourced from. 

“The Ram mandir across the road has become an adda for smoking ganja; every evening, all kinds of miscreants gather here and engage in all these activities,” a villager requesting anonymity, said.

He alleged that as young teenagers, Rahul and Lakhan would frequent the temple in the evenings before they progressed to using other cheap drugs like ‘solution’ and pills. 

(Edited by Arun Prashanth)


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