AMARESHWAR SAHAY,J. - (1.) AII the three appears arise out of a same impugned judgment and therefore, they were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.
(2.) THESE four appellants alongwith one another co -accused namely Nandlal Prasad @ Nand Prasad Yadav (acquitted) were charged for the offence under Section 396 of the Indian Penal Code and were put on trial. The learned Trial Court, by the impugned judgment, has convicted all the four appellants for the offence under Sections 302 and 392 of the Indian Penal Code and has sentenced them to undergo R.1. for life and fine of Rs. 5,000/ -, in default R.I. for a further period of two years under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and R.I. for a period of seven years and fine of Rs. 1,000/ - each for the offence under Section 392 of the Indian Penal Code. Both the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The prosecution case in short is that on 3.12.1999, Truck No. BR -24M -8171 had gone to Balrampur having loaded the Lac of one Adit Sah @ Adit Sao @ Aditya Sahu (P.W. 4) of Latehar. The aforesaid Truck unloaded the said Lac at Balrampur in the District of Purulia (West Bengal) on 4.12.1999 and was returning from Balrampur to Latehar on 4.12.1999. It reached Ranchi at 4:00 P.M. It picked up its owner Most. Sita Devi (sister -in -law of the informant, since deceased) from Seva Sadan, Ranchi and proceeded for Latehar. When the said Truck did not reach Latehar till the morning of 5.12.1999, the informant (P.W. 2) with others tried to search out the said Truck. In course of search, he went to a Line Hotel of Bindeshwar Sah @ Bindeshwar Sahu (P.W. 1) situated one and half K.M. away from Kuru at Ranchi Road, Kuru where the said Truck usually used to take a halt. The informant could gather information from the aforesaid Hotel owner (P.W. 1) that his Truck had stayed at the Hotel on 4.12.1999 at about 6:45 P.M. The driver (since deceased) and Khalasi (since deceased) got down from the said Truck and ordered to prepare four cups of tea and directed the owner to prepare tea without any delay as the owner of the Truck (deceased Sita Devi) was also sitting inside the Truck. When tea was prepared, driver and khalasi took tea in the Hotel and two glasses of tea were taken inside the Truck by the Khalasi, out of which, one glass of tea was returned. Thereafter, it was uttered by the Driver that Mahendra (appellant) would not take tea but nothing was heard from inside the cabin of the said Truck. Thereafter, the said Truck moved towards Latehar. It is further stated in the written report that informant also gathered information from the said Hotel owner that two unknown persons had also come to his Hotel on the same day at 5:00 P.M. aged about 25 to 30 years. One remained outside the Hotel and another who was wearing Full Pant, T. Shirt and Jacket and 'WCE 'Bagdair' with one eye, asked the Hotel owner as to whether Bulet Singh, driver had come with vehicle? Hotel owner replied that he had not returned as yet. The informant further claims in his written report that he further gathered information from a person at Kuru, that on 4.12.1999, the said Truck turned towards Latehar from Kuru Chowk and while its speed had become slow, due to bad condition of road, in front of Kuru P.S., two persons held the cabin door of Truck. Each one on either side of the Cabin door and opened the cabin door and. entered into the cabin of the said Truck. The further case of the prosecution is that the said Truck was lying North of Amjharia Ghati unclaimed and that two dead bodies were lying near the said Truck and one dead body was lying inside the cabin of the truck. On such information, the informant went to Kuru P.S. to lodge F.I.R. but the Police of Kuru P.S. did not entertain his information. Thereafter, he went to Lohardaga to approach the S.P., who was not available but the reader of the S.P. told him that F.I.R. would be lodged in the P.S. in whose jurisdiction dead bodies would be recovered. Therefore, the informant went to the place of occurrence and lodged his F.I.R. recorded by the then O/c Chandwa P.S. at 10:00 A.M. on 7.12.1999 near Amjharia Ghati. According to the prosecution, the said Truck was forcibly taken away by the miscreants to the north of Amjharia Ghati within the jurisdiction of Chandwa P.S. and they committed murder and looted cash of As. 2 lacs and Bank Draft of Rs. 32,000/ - to be given to said lac merchant.
(3.) THE F.I.R. was registered under Sections 364, 302, 201, 120B, 379, 34. of the Indian Penal Code. In course of investigation, the dead bodies of three persons namely of Sita Devi i.e. the truck owner Surendra Singh @ Bulet Singh, the Driver of the Truck and of Jitendra Thakur the cleaner of the Truck were recove;ed by the Police. According to the prosecution, in course of investigation, the accused Mahendra Prasad and the accused Chanchal Bhaskar made extra - judicial confessions leading to recovery of incriminating articles.;