BHAGAWAT CHANDRA GAYEN Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal was directed against the judgment and order of conviction dated 22-8-1989 passed by Shri S.K. Das, the learned Additional Sessions Judge, First Court, Midnapore in connection with Sessions Trial Case No. XIV of November, 1986.

(2.) It appears from the judgment passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge that as many as 42 accused persons faced trial of different charges before the learned trial Court and out of those 42 accused persons he found accused-Bhagwat Ch. Gayen and Ranu alias Ranendra Kr. Roy guilty of the offence under S. 302, I.P.C. and sentenced them to imprisonment for life. The learned Judge also found the other four accused persons namely Bharat Jha, Ranjan Mondal, Basudeb Midaya and Durgapada Mondal guilty of the offence under Ss. 325/149, I.P.C. and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years each. The learned Judge was pleased to acquit all other accused persons.

(3.) The prosecution case in brief is that in the morning at about 6 a.m./7.30 a.m. of 19-1-1984 about 900 miscreants armed with guns, bombs, pistols, arrows, bows, strikcs, tangis, ballams and other lethal weapons under the leadership of Bhagwat Chn. Gayen, Ranendra Kumar Roy alias Ranu, Hitendra Nath Prodhan entered the village of the informant and started looting and assaulting the prosecution parties including looting the house of the informant. The informant, Lakshmi Kanta Prodhan tried to escape lent the accused-Anil Das, Durgapada Mal and Basudeb Midaya encircled him and started assaulting him. At that time, Ranendra Kr. and Ranu dragged Kanailal Jana holding one pistol in one hand there. Thereafter Bhagawat Gayen, Niranjan Sukai, Hitendra Nath Prodhan and Phanindra Nath Bera started assaulting Kanailal Jana and Durgapada told to finish him. At this Bhagawat hit with all force on the head of Kanailal with a tangi and Kanailal fell down on the ground and subsequently died. The informant tried to escape when Ranu fired from his pistol aiming at him and Durgapada hurled a bomb. The informant sustained bomb injury and fell down on the ground. At that time Animesh Prodhan, the brother of the informant rushed there but Anil Das and Ranjan Mondal started assaulting Animesh mercilessly. Thereafter the mob ransacked the house of the informant under the leadership of Jatindra Nath Bera and Basudeb Midaya. About 200 strong nob broke the door and window of the cereal shop of the informant and looted away goods worth about Rs. 35,000/-. Thereafter the mob entered into the room of the Hasking machine and took away machine and other parts of the machine. It was also learnt by the informant that mob also ransacked the house of Jitendra Nath Prodhan, Profulla Kumar Prodhan, Paresh Chandra Bisai, Netai Bisai, Bhuban Mohan Bisai and Raghunath Bisai and looted the valuable articles from their houses. The members of the mob also assaulted Jitendra, Binode, Kartick, Badal and others.