HARERAM SINGH AND ORS. Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The two appeals arise out of judgment of conviction dated 17.11.2006 rendered by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Presiding Officer, Fast Track Court No. I, Purnia in Sessions Trial No. 761 of 2004 by which the two Appellants were found guilty of committing offences under Sections 364/34 and 414/34 IPC and both of them were directed to suffer rigorous imprisonment for ten years as also of three years on both the counts. The sentences were directed to run concurrently.

(2.) The self statement(Ext-3) of P.W.4 Udaya Bahadur who was the officer-in-charge of Bhawanipur police station on 04.06.2004 is the basis upon which the formal FIR (Ext-2) of Bhawanipur police station case No. 26 of 2004 dated 04.06.2004 was registered. It was stated by P.W.4 that the Dy.S.P., Dhamdaha had telephonically informed him that the abductors concerned with Bhawanipur Police Station Case No. 24 of 2004 were about to assemble somewhere around village-Barhari-Raipur and as such instructions were being issued to the officers-in-charge of Rupauli and Dhamdaha police station for rendering proper assistance to P.W.4. Accordingly, P.W.4 along with the officer-in-charge of Rupauli(P.W.2) and officer-in-charge of Dhamdaha (P.W.5)started from the police station at 4 A.M. They conducted raid in different villages situated around Barhari Bajrangbali Asthan and during that course P.W.4 found a silver-colour-Bolero being driven fast and was proceeding towards the said Bajrangbali Asthan. The police officers present on the road signalled the vehicle to stop but it did not respond to the signal, rather sped away fast. P.W.4 stated that he picked up the sound of "Bachao-Bachao" of a person coming out of the vehicle and, accordingly, the vehicle was chased. The occupants of the vehicle stopped the vehicle and started running away from there with a person whose hands were tied and they all started moving towards the canal situated in the west. The police, while chasing the criminals, felt that they might catch hold of the criminals but they started running away leaving out the victim. It is stated that the victim was recovered and he gave his name as Awdhesh Mandal(P.W.6).

(3.) P.W.4 stated that on chase, two of the criminals were also arrested and it were the two Appellants, namely, Sudhir Singh and Hareram Singh who stated that they committed the abduction and murder of four relatives of the Member Legislative Assembly from Rupauli constituency, namely, Smt. Bima Bharti, with the help of one Manoj who was the Mukhiya of Dumra and the captured Bolero vehicle had been used by them in commission of the offence of abduction and murder of the four persons whose dead bodies had been left under water in river Bandadhar near a bamboo clump. The police stated that it recovered the four dead bodies.