- (1.) Three appeals shall be disposed of by this order.
(2.) The appellants were convicted in an offence under Section 397, 395 and 342, I.P.C. pursuant to a case having been registered against them vide FIR No. 308, dated 15-6-1998 in Police Station, Butana.
(3.) The prosecution's case as unfolding from the FIR and the consequent challan presented under Section 173 of the Cr. P. C. is that the complainant-Surmukh Singh was coming in his truck bearing No. HR-07- A 1618 on 14-6-1998 with a consignment of 246 bags of sunflowers and was accompanied by his Cleaner Prem Singh. When the truck reached two kilometers ahead of Samanabahu, in the mid of the night, they found the road blocked by truck-trailer which was parked diagonally on the road. The complainant had to perforce stop his vehicle. It was about 1 .00 a.m. at night and two persons of young age came. One of them opened the driver side window of the truck and the other opened the conductor side window and they put their respective pistols on the neck of the complainant and forced them to alight the truck. They thereafter took the complainant's truck. 10 to 12 persons, who were their companions and who were standing a little ahead, assaulted the complainant when he tried to resist. He was beaten up with iron rods as a result of which his right leg was totally broken. A sum of Rs. 500/- was forcibly snatched from him. Thereafter the complainant along with his companion Prem Singh was put in a room where one Harjinder Singh, Mehar Singh and Chaman Lal - three other persons who were also victims of similar incidents, were already tied up. The accused persons thereafter escaped with the truck and the consignment. The truck was allegedly having Rs. 4,000/- in the compartment. Prem Singh somehow managed to break the ventilator and rescue all the persons. The complainant thereafter got his statement recorded before Hardwari Lal ASI and a formal FIR was registered.;