- (1.) The appellant was convicted for commission of the offence under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 27 of the Arms Act and was sentenced to undergo R. I. for a period of 7 years for the offence under Section 307 IPC and R.I. for a period of 2 years for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act by the impugned judgment dated 29-07-1998 passed by the Sessions Judge, Godda in Sessions Trial No. 20/98, which is under challenge in this appeal.
(2.) In short the prosecution case is that the informant Nav Kumar Soren (PW-1) a Sub-Inspector of Police was on patrolling duty on 21-09-1997 alongwith other police officials. All of them reached Lalmatia Mission Chowk at about 7.40 p.m. At that time he received information that at Lalmatia bypass road near the crusher machine situated near a bridge, the passengers of a bus Were being looted by the miscreants. On this information, the informant and the police party reached at the spot at 7.50 p.m. and saw that a bus was standing on the road and dacoity was being committed by looting the passengers by 8-9 miscreants. On seeing the police party the miscreants started fleeing away from that place but they were challenged by the police party and, thereafter, it is said that the Informant, after chase, caught hold of one of the miscreants. The said miscreant, who was caught by the informant, started scuffling with him and in that course the said miscreant fired a shot on him, which hit his right arm causing injury, but the informant did not left loose the said miscreants. On interrogation, the miscreant disclosed his identity as Hart Shankar Singh @ Hari Kishore Singh of village Madhura, P. S. Belbadda. The informant further stated that the pistol from which the miscreant had shot fire on him was thrown away by him somewhere near by bush, ditch and mud, which could not be traced out in spite of search.
(3.) The specific defence of the appellant in the Court below was that at the relevant time and on the alleged date of occurrence, he, together with other co-villagers, was returning from Lalmatia Hat and while he was passing through the place of occurrence, the police picked him up, assaulted him and finally got him falsely implicated in this case.;