- (1.) Appellant herein is before us having been convicted for alleged commission of an offence under Section 364-A of the Indian Penal Code and imposed with sentence of death. He was also convicted for commission of an offence punishable under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to suffer five years' rigorous imprisonment and to pay fine of Rs. 2000/- in default whereof to further suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year.
(2.) Paras, deceased herein was aged about 5 years. He was a student in Coast Guard School. He went to the school on 3.08.2000. His parents are owner of a factory situated in Daman. The appellant admittedly was appointed as a driver by them and worked for about three months.
(3.) At around 6.15 p.m. on the said date, a phone call was attended by Alpa, mother of the deceased. When she heard the caller, she started weeping at which point their neighbour Khimjibhai picked up the phone and from other end he was informed that the boy was in their custody. A demand of Rs. 25 lakhs was made as ransom money for returning the child safely. Ashwin, father of Paras, thereafter went to the police station and lodged a complaint. A few calls demanding ransom were received in the next two days. Ashwin was asked to come to a place near Ankleshwar with the amount of ransom in his Armada Car. Further instructions as to how money should be handed over were also furnished. A trap was arranged at Ankleshwar but nobody turned up to claim the amount of ransom. When a query was made as to whether he knew a person who was a resident of Ankleshwar, the name of the appellant was disclosed. He was arrested and on conducting a search his personal diary was seized. He made a confession that the boy had been murdered. He made a statement which led to recovery of a few bones on 7.08.2000 at about 4.00 p.m. from a nalla. The bones recovered were examined by a Medical Officer who opined that they might be of a boy who would be of the same age as that of the deceased. Bones along with blood samples of the parents were sent for DNA test to Hyderabad. The bones were found to be that of Paras. We would refer to the said statements a little later.;