ASHWANI KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has preferred present petition under Sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as 'CrPC'), for grant of regular bail in case FIR No. 192 of 2016, dated 7th Dec., 2016, registered under Sections 302, 201, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as 'IPC'), registered at Police Station Nagrota Bagwan, District Kangra, H.P.

(2.) Status report stands filed. Record has also been produced, perusal whereof reveals that the petitioners has been arrested in the present case on 23rd May, 2018, for entering into criminal conspiracy with the main accused Vinay Kumar, for disappearing the dead body of the wife of Vinay Kumar, who was murdered by Vinay Kumar on 29th July, 2016.

(3.) Prosecution case in brief is that deceased Sharda Devi wife of Vinay Kumar (main accused) was living in her parental house, separate from her husband along with her two children. She was awarded maintenance by the Court from her husband (main accused Vinay Kumar). On 27th July, 2016, she had left her residence to receive the maintenance amount from her husband. Next date of hearing in the maintenance case was 2nd Aug., 2016, but she went on missing prior to the said date, whereupon her father had lodged the missing report and later on, a case under Sec. 365 of Penal Code was registered in Police Station Nagrota Bagwan. Later on, the case was handed over to the State CID and during investigation, on suspicion, polygraph test of accused Vinay Kumar was conducted to find clues from him, resulting into interrogation of Ashwani Kumar and Vinay Kumar and it was revealed that on 29th July, 2016, at at about 7/7.30 PM, deceased Sharda Devi was taken by accused, to the cowshed of her sister, located at isolated place Muhaalkad Chahadi, where they consumed country liquor and thereafter, accused Vinay Kumar asked Sharda Devi to bring water from the nearby small canal and when she was fetching water, she was pushed and thrown into the canal by accused Vinay Kumar and after some distance he took out her dead body from canal and called his nephew (present petitioner) Ashwani Kumar and both of them had buried the dead body of Sharda Devi in the field. After some days, present petitioner Ashwani Kumar, again visited the spot and found that wild animals had removed some soil from the spot, as such during that night, both accused again visited the spot and disinterred the body and buried it again at different place after digging another pit.