STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. MOHAMMED IBRAHIM LAL MOHAMMED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Respondents/accused are being prosecuted for alleged offence under Section 3 (a) of the Railways Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966 (the said Act).

(2.) As per the charge sheet supplied, it appears that accused were arrested in another unrelated incidence being Crime No.34 of 1993 on 14th September 1993. While the Investigating Officer ? K.B. Gange was interrogating accused, accused were supposed to have disclosed that there were railway property kept in their godown at Kurla, Mumbai valued at about Rs.30,000/-. Accused no.1 is also supposed to have informed the Investigating Officer that those materials, which were in his godown, were purchased by them. In the confessional statement, accused no.1 has admitted that he has been regularly buying stolen railway property and he would cut those property into pieces so that they cannot be identified as railway properties. There is a similar confessional statement by accused no.2.

(3.) Based on this confessional statement, both accused were taken by Investigating Officer to the godown and he seized the property in question. Thereafter, the offence under Section 3(a) of the said Act has been registered.