- (1.) Nine accused were charged for offence under Section 396 IPC. Three of them, namely, Jamil, Mokid Alam and Mahmood were further charged for offence under Section 412 IPC as well. Briefly the case of the prosecution is : A dacoity was committed in the House of informant Bhupendra Mohan Singh, situated in Phulwari village, on 9th June, 1985 at about 7:15 p.m. 10 to 15 dacoits raided his house. The dacoits took away his licensed gun from the house besides other articles. They ransacked the house of his brother also which is situated in the same 'Angan' and also assaulted the wife of his brother. The informant somehow slipped out of his house and concealed himself in the house of his neighbour, Dinesh Chandra Singh and from there he saw the entire occurrence. On learning about the dacoity, the villagers rushed at the place of occurrence and some of them set fire to a heap of straw. There was Chowkidar Morchand who also came armed with bow and arrow. Some of the dacoits fired on the villagers. Morchand Lal was also shot at and died at the spot. Another villager Sabo Lal was also injured by the firing. In the light of the lantern as well as torchlights flashed by the dacoits themselves, the informant identified Mohd. Dara, Mokid Alam, Mahmood, Post Card, Salim, Mokimuddin and Alim among the dacoits. They also took away Rupees 12,000/- besides ornaments, transistors, clothes, etc. S. C. Yadav, Assistant Sub-Inspector, rushed to the place of occurrence and recorded the statement of Bhupendra Mohan Singh at about 8:15 p.m. on the basis of which case was registered against seven named accused and their unidentified associates.
(2.) The prosecution examined 12 witnesses. The informant Bhupendra Mohan Singh is PW4. PW1 and PW2 are his brothers. PW3 is Dinesh Chandra Singh, the neighbour from whose house PW4 claims to have seen the entire occurrence. All four of them claim that they had witnessed the occurrence. PW5, Manoranjan Singh, is also resident of the same village and said to have reached the place of occurrence soon after the dacoits had left. PW 10 is the investigating officer. The other witnesses are formal.
(3.) The Court of Session convicted 5 accused, namely, Jamil, Mahmood, Mokid Alam, Salim and Post Card @ Jagdish Mahto for offence under Section 396 IPC and sentenced them for rigorous imprisonment for life. Accused Jamil, Mahmood and Mokid Alam were also convicted for offence under Section 412 IPC as well and were further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years for the said offence. The remaining four accused, namely, Mehruddin, Mohd. Dara, Mokimuddin and Alim were acquitted. The conviction of the five accused has been upheld by the High Court. Three of them, namely, Mahmood, Mokid Alam and Post Card @ Jagdish are appellants before us.;