RAM SANEHI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Cr. A. No. 1654 of 1961 is by Ram Sanehi while Cr. A. No. 1795 of 1961 is by Sheo Rakhan and Ram Nath. The appellants were prosecuted on a charge of dacoity with murder under Section 396 I. P. C. and each of them was sentenced to imprisonment for life.

(2.) The case against the appellants was as follows : On the night between the 28th and 29th of Nov., 1960 some four or five miscreants committed dacoity at the house of Mam Ram in village Kachpura, within Police Circle Jaswantnagar, District Etawah. The presence of the miscreants was noticed by Smt. Laro, mother of Mani Ram. She immediately came out of the room and raised an alarm. The night in question was a moonlit one. Several persons of the locality came on the scene and are said to have recognised the dacoits when they came out of the house of Mani Ram after collecting their booty. One of the dacoits, namely. Ram Nath accused, belonged to a neighbouring village which was at a distance of two or three furlongs from the house of the victim, and was recognised by the witnesses. The other dacoits were, however, not known to the witnesses from before. An attempt was made by the villagers to chase the dacoits who managed to escape into the ravines. After the witnesses had covered a distance of half a furlong one of the dacoits opened fire which hit Tundey who was fatally injured and died on the spot. Thereafter the villagers gave up the chase.

(3.) In the first information report which was made by Mani Ram at the police station on the morning of the 29th November 1960 he named Ram Nath as being one of the dacoits who had been recognised by the witnesses. Hirday Narain Singh, Station Officer, Police Station Jaswantnagar, investigated the case and reached the village of occurrence at about 9.30 a.m. After holding inquest over the dead body of Tundey he recovered two live cartridges and one pair of shoes from the spot. He then made a search for Ram Nath accused who had been named in the report but could not arrest him. Proceedings under Sections 87 and 88 Cr. P. C. were then taken against Ram Nath and he was eventually arrested on 10-1-1961. Ram Sanehi accused was arrested on 9-12-1960 from village Lalkhor from- the house of Sheo Rakhan accused. Sheo Rakhan accused was also present in the house but managed to slip away. From the possession of Ram Sanehi a dhoti (Ex. I) was taken into custody by the police as being one of the items of looted property. Sheo Rakhan was also arrested subsequently on 5-1-1961.