BIJOY DEB @ MANTI AND ORS Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA AND ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appeals being CRL.A. 65 of 2010 filed by Sri Bijoy Deb @ Manti and the appeal being CRL.A. 75 of 2010 filed by Sri Asish Ghosh under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1974 (the Cr.P.C in short) are directed against the judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 10.09.2010 and 14.09.2010 delivered in S.T. 22(NT/K) 2007 by the Additional Sessions Judge (First Track Court), North Tripura, Kailashahar. Hence the appeals are taken up together for disposal by a common judgment. By the said impugned judgment and order the appellants have been convicted under Section 302/201/34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.,1000/-, in default of payment of fine, to suffer further rigorous imprisonment for 1(one) month for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the I.P.C read with Section 34 of the I.P.C. and to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 3(three) years with a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default of payment of fine to suffer further 1(one) month rigorous imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 102 of the I.P.C. read with Section 24 of the I.P.C.

(2.) We have heard Mr. P. Roy Barman learned counsel appearing for the appellants and Mr. R.C. Debnath, learned Addl. P.P. appearing for the State.

(3.) Briefly stated the prosecution case as surfaced from the records is that one suo-mutu complaint was filed by Sri Kamalendu Bhowmik (PW-15), a Sub-Inspector of Kumarghat Police Station disclosing that on 25.12.2005 the duty officer of Kumarghat Police Station received an information that foul odour was emitting from an abandoned well within the house of one Digendra Ghosh, a residing of West Moshauli and the villagers were suspecting that it might so happen that a dead body had been thrown into the abandoned well. He entered the said information in the General Diary (G.D) vide Kumarghat P.S. G.D.E No. 966 dated 25.12.2005 and one Debasish Saha, a Sub-Inspector of the Fatikroy Outpost was asked to verify the information. The said police officer had visited that place and confirmed that the foul odour was emitting from the said abandoned well. It has been disclosed in the said compliant that on prolonged interrogation one Ajanta Ghosh, daughter of Digendra Ghosh, had confessed that about one month before from that day her brother namely Debasish Ghosh, Bijoy Deb and one girl from Shillong with 'Mongolian face' had come to their house. Debasish and Bijoy used to stay at Shillong for their livelihood. After passing one night Debasish and Bijoy with help of Asish Ghosh had murdered that girl who was about 20- 22 years old, and had buried the dead body in the abandoned well. After such information, the said police officer, the complainant, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Kailashahar, the Deputy Magistrate and Collector, Kumarghat and one Medical Officer who was the in-charge of Kumarghat P.H.C had rushed to that locality. Based on the statement and the identification of Ajanta Ghosh, the said abandoned well was disinterred and a semi decomposed body of a female was recovered from the said well. The dead body was tagged by heavy stone. As per the direction of the Officer-in-Charge of Fatikroy outpost the inquest of the dead body was carried out and the postmortem examination was conducted on that spot by the said Medical Officer in presence of Sri R. Das, Deputy Collector and Magistrate. Thereafter, the said dead body was cremated. The following persons were accused of committing the said gruesome murder: