The Central Bureau of Investigation has said that two men who allegedly mowed down the Dhanbad Additional Sessions Judge Uttam Anand with an autorickshaw in July were a “professional thief looking for vulnerable targets” and his accomplice, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

The agency claimed that the accused “had been looking for a chance to execute the plan”.

However, the central agency did not provide any details of the plan or the motive of the thief, Rahul Kumar Verma and his accomplice Lakhan Verma.

The two accused were arrested on July 29, a day after Anand died after a three-wheeler ran over him. CCTV camera footage of the incident showed the vehicle suddenly swerving towards the 49-year-old judge, who was walking on an empty road, and hitting him.

The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet against the two men in a court in Dhanbad on October 20.

Besides murder, the agency has charged the two accused under sections 201 (disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information) and 34 (criminal acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had claimed that the “deliberate” and “intentional ramming” of the vehicle caused severe injuries to the judge which were sufficient to cause his death, The Indian Express reported.

Dr Harish Pathak, the head of forensic medicine and toxicology at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital said that the injury in the judge’s skull was caused by the yellow-dented edge of the autorickshaw.

The investigation agency also claimed that Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma had stolen the three-wheeler. They allegedly erased the registration from both the number plates on the vehicle so that it could not be identified.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has said that the autorickshaw driver was in a good psychological state of mind when the accident took place as he was able to control his vehicle expertly, as seen on the CCTV footage. The agency also noted that the driver had overtaken a cyclist “without hitting him”.

After hitting the judge, the autorickshaw driver did not slow down or stop to check the condition of Anand, “which is otherwise a normal human reflex action of the driver after hitting the person”, the agency said. It therefore concluded that Anand had been targeted, according to The Indian Express.

“Thus, this incident seems to be planned and intentional,” the Central Bureau of Investigation said. “It does not appear to be an accident.”

Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma also underwent forensic psychological assessment, forensic statement analysis, polygraph test and layered voice analysis by experts of Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi after obtaining permission from the court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation also claimed that the responses of the two men were “deceptive in most of the issues which indicates their active involvement in the crime under investigation”.