AJAY PAL @ MINTOO Vs. STATE OF UTTARANCHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PRESENT ap­peal has been filed by accused Ajaypal @ Mintoo and Khempal against the judgment and order dated 17th June, 1996 passed by the Sessions Judge, Nainital in Sessions Trial No. 122 of 1995 convicting the accused-appellants under sections 302 read with section 34 I.PC. and section 394 read with section 34 I.PC. and sentencing them to im­prisonment for life.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated the prosecution story as came out from the first infor­mation report and the statement of PW. 1 is that deceased Prem Prakash Agarwal was running a flour mill at Kunda Chauraha, PS. Kashipur. On 5.10.1994 at 4 PM. he instructed his son Sunil Kumar (PW.1) on telephone to bring Rs.10,000/- to his shop. Sunil Kumar reached Kunda Chauraha at about 5 PM. and handed over the cash to his father at the Mill. Prem Prakash Agarwal kept the money in his trouser's pocket Thereafter, Prem Prakash pro­ceeded to answer the call of nature ask­ing his son Sunil Kumar to stay over there as on coming back. Prem Prakash had also to accompany Sunil Kumar to Kashipur. Prem Prakash went towards the grove with water in a bottle. In the meantime witnesses Vijay Kumar (PW.2) and Arvind Kumar (PW.3) also came over there. On inquiry Sunil Kumar told them that he was waiting for his father, as they had to go to Ka­shipur. The bus was likely to arrive shortly and they expected Sri Prem Prakash Agarwal to come back from the nature's call but when he did not come back they all proceeded towards the grove where they saw accused Ajaypal alias Mintoo and Khempal hav­ing surrounded Prern Prakash. Accused Ajaypal gave him a blow of Danda on the head of Prem Prakash due to which he fell down. Thereafter, accused Khempal inflicted incised wound by knife on the throat of Prem Prakash. When the witnesses approached the place of incident both the accused-per­sons had fled away. Prem Prakash was brought to the flour mill but he died on the way. The money, which Prem Prakash had kept in his pocket, was also missing.

(3.) THE investigation of the case was entrusted to S.I. Shyam Nath Pande (PW.6). He recorded the state­ments of witnesses and on 6.10.1994, he prepared the inquest report (Ex. Ka­4). He inspected the place of occur­rence and took into custody the plain earth, blood stained earth, Danda, water bottle etc. He sent the dead body of the deceased for post-mortem ex­amination. He arrested the accused persons and interrogated them. The investigating officer made recovery of the weapon used in the crime and blood stained clothes of the accused­ persons on the pointing out of the ac­cused. The amount looted by the ac­cused had also been recovered by the police. The recovered articles were sent for chemical examination. The report of the Chemical examination is (Ex.ka­18). After completing the investigation, the police submitted charge-sheet Ex. Ka-15 against the accused persons.