DEEPAK BAJIRAO SHELKE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the criminal appeals are being disposed of together as both the appeals are arising out of challenge to the same judgment and order of conviction dated 30th January, 2010 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Nashik in Sessions Case No. 208 of 2008. Heard learned appointed Advocate Shri Arfan Sait for the appellant-original accused No. 1 in Criminal Appeal No. 594 of 2010. Also heard learned appointed Advocate Shri Murtaza Nazmi for appellant accused No. 2 in Criminal Appeal No. 778 of 2011 and also heard Mrs. M.M. Deshmukh learned APP for the State.

(2.) Case of the prosecution, in nut-shell, is as under;

(3.) According to the case of the prosecution, both the appellants-accused strangulated the deceased and dumped his body in the wooden box kept in the cabin of the driver and thereafter parked the tanker by the side of the road in between villages Jaigaon and Brahmanwadi, Taluka Sinnar. Also according to the case of the prosecution, on 13th March, 2008 in the evening time both the appellants were found selling cotton seed oil to nearby villagers pretending that they wanted to raise money for repairs of tanker. They sold the oil @ Rs. 50/- per kilogram. On the same night at about 8:30 p.m. they allegedly went to the S.T. bus stand of Sinnar along with the tanker and asked one auto-rickshaw driver by name Prakash Zagde (P.W. No. 10) to follow their tanker and then proceeded towards Gurhewadi. At that place about a distance of 3 kilometers from Sinnar they parked tanker No. MH-04-CA-6385 and boarded in auto-rickshaw which was following the tanker. In the said rickshaw they went towards Musalgaon Shivar and from same locality they picked up two girls and again boarded the rickshaw and both the appellants-accused and two girls then reached to Yashraj Hotel at Sinnar at about 10:00 p.m. Auto-rickshaw driver P.W. No. 10 was instructed to come to that place on the next day morning. Accordingly, on 14th March, 2008 at about 9:00 a.m. P.W. No. 10 attended the hotel and took both the girls which were brought to the hotel by earlier night by the appellants-accused, to their place.