GOPI GOPE Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants have preferred this appeal against the judgment and order dated 5.8.2000/8. 8.2000 passed by the 3rd Additional Sessions Judge. Nalanda in Sessions Trial No. 181/1.5 of 1998/98, whereby the appellants Gopi Gope and Shailendra Gope have been convicted for the offence under Section 302, IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000 each and in default of payment of fine to undergo simple imprisonment for six months, the appellants Bachchu Gope, Sagar Gope, Ram Nath Gope and Indru Gope have been convicted for the offence under Section 302/149, IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/ - each and in default of payment of fine to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. All the appellants have further been convicted for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years.

(2.) KISHORE Gope is informant in this case. He gave his fardbeyan on 27.10.1997 at about 12.20 p.m. before the Officer -in - Charge of Bhaganbigha Out -Post that while he was harvesting paddy crop in his field his son Dani Gope was going to attend the call of nature. He reached near the Boring/Cabin of Chando Singh, he put the water pot on the ground and started rubbing tobacco. In the meantime Sagar Gope, Ramprit Gope, Shailendra Gope, Indru Gope, Ramnath Gope. Bachchu Gope and Amrik Gope came with pistol from behind the cabin and surrounded his son. They raised alarm on which Gopi Gope who was ploughing the field came running and fired on the right temporal region of his son. He fell down. Thereafter Shailendra Gope fired on the right eyebrow. Ramprit Gope put the barrel of the pistol in the mouth and fired which pierced and came out from the back. The occurrence was witnessed by Naresh Gope, PW 2, Rameshwar Gope. PW 5, Shyam Gope not examined, Haricharan Yadav, PW 1 and Vijay Gope PW 3 who were working in their fields nearby the place of occurrence. The aforesaid accused persons started making indiscriminate firing and ran away towards east. Thereafter they went near Dani Gope and found him dead. In the meantime the police came. The motive of the occurrence was that Gopi Gope wanted to purchase the land of Chando Singh but he purchased the land from him.

(3.) DURING the pendency of the appeal Sagar Gope, Bachchu Gope and Ramnath Gope were killed and as such their appeal stood abated. The case of Amrik Gope was separated as he was absconding.