ANOOP KHAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is filed by the accused in Sessions Case No. 812/11 of the Additional District and Sessions Judge (Adhoc-II) Kollam, challenging judgment dated 6/3/2013 by which the accused had been convicted for having committed the murder of an employee of a Bar hotel at Kottarakkara. He has been convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for offence u/s 302 of I.P.C. and to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- for offence u/s 201 of I.P.C., rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for offence u/s 394 of I.P.C. with respective default sentence as well, for non payment of fine.

(2.) The prosecution case is that, on 21/12/2010, the accused had gone to a bar-attached hotel by name Akash hotel at Kottarakkara. He came to the hotel at 4.30 p.m and asked for the air-conditioned bar. The Manager showed him the place. He left the hotel by 6.30 p.m. and came back at around 9.30 p.m and was sitting in the A/C bar consuming liquor. The deceased Gopa Kumar was the waiter. PW19 was the nephew of the deceased and he was also assisting him in the cleaning works in the bar. At 9.45 p.m. PW19 went to the mess. At that time, the accused was sitting in the A/C bar and the deceased was attending him. When he came back, he saw a man running out of the corridor to the gate. When he opened the door of the A/C bar, he found the deceased lying in a pool of blood. He came out and called aloud to catch the accused, as he was trying to escape. By the time the security heard PW19, the accused crossed the road, jumped the next compound wall and ran away. The matter was informed to the police. In the meantime, the injured was taken to the hospital and PW21, the Doctor proclaimed him dead at about 10.30 p.m. PW24 the Sub Inspector of police came to the scene. The Sub Inspector of police took PW19 along with him and went in search of accused to the bus stand and other places, but the accused could not be located. At 11.15 p.m, PW19 gave the FIS which is marked as Ext.P33. The investigation was initially conducted by PW25, and later it was made over to the CBCID and PW26 continued the investigation from 5/01/2011. On 7/1/2011, PW19 identified the accused from Ext.P34, the register of Criminal Intelligence Gazette of November 2018, which contains photographs of accused involved in various crimes on the basis of which PW26 filed a report before Court as Ext.P48 naming the accused as the person who had committed the crime.

(3.) Accused was arrested on 8/1/2011 by PW23 in connection with another crime No. 932/2010 of Kulathupuzha Police Station. On conducting body search, the mobile phone, MO4 belonging to the deceased and MO2 knife was seized from the accused. On receiving information about the arrest of the accused, as permitted by the Magistrate, formal arrest of the accused in the present crime was recorded. PW26 obtained custody of the accused on 10/1/2011. On the basis of the confession statement of the accused, PW26 recovered a comb from the compound on the opposite side of the Bar hotel, which fell down while the accused was running from the bar. His dress used at the time of commission of the crime were recovered.