BICKY KUMAR MAHTON Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appeal is against the judgment dated 17th July, 2001 of the 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Begusarai passed in S.T. No. 191 of 2000/ 23 of 2001, whereby each of the three appellants has been convicted under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also a fine of Rs. 7,000/- and, in default of payment of fine, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 8 months. Each of the appellants has also been convicted under Section 364 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and also a fine of Rs. 5,000/- and, in default of payment of fine, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months. Each of the appellants has also been convicted under Section 120- B read with Section 34 and 201 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code but no separate sentence has been passed under these counts.

(2.) The informant Shankar Sah (PW 6) gave a written petition with his L.T.I. to the Officer In-charge of Bhagwanpur Police Station on 26th February, 2000 alleging therein that on 23rd February, 2000 at about 4.00 p.m., his son Pankaj Kumar (the deceased) aged about 14 years had gone away with appellant Bicky Kumar Mahaton for bringing soil but he did not come back. He searched for the boy in the house and when he was not found there, he (the informant) thought that he (the deceased) would have gone to his another residential house at Bhagwan Chowk and would have stayed there. In the ensuing morning, when his son (the deceased) did not return, he searched for him and also enquired of the villagers. The boy was not found at the other residential house at Bhagwan Chowk nor at any other place in the village. The informant kept on searching for the boy and he learnt from some villagers that the three appellants and one Baudha Kumar Sah (whose trial was separated due to he being a juvenile) had kidnapped his son Pankaj Kumar (the deceased) on 23rd February, 2000 at about 6.00 p.m. and that they had kept the boy confined somewhere. The informant alleged that Gopal Sao (the appellant) had enmity, hence, he suspected that due to that enmity the accused persons had kidnapped the boy. On receiving the written report, the Officer, In-charge, Bhagwanpur Police Station registered a First Information Report and commenced investigation and on completion of investigation, charge-sheet was submitted and the appellants have been convicted and sentenced, as above.

(3.) As many as 8 witnesses were examined by the prosecution. PW 6 Shankar Sah is the informant himself. PW 4 Manju Devi is the mother of the deceased. PW 2 Umesh Kumar Sah is the cousin of the informant. PW 1 Bishwambhar Pandit was examined on the point that he had seen the deceased going with the appellants but this witness has turned hostile and he has not supported the prosecution case on this point. PW 3 Dr. Pramod Kumar Singh is the doctor who had held the post mortem examination on the dead body of the deceased. PW 5 Ram Shankar Jha is the Anchal Adhikari in whose presence the dead body of the deceased was dug up and recovered from the field of one Siddheshwar Singh. PW 7 Ramashish Sah is a formal witness who has proved the protest petition filed by the informant before the Chief Judicial Magistrate during investigation of the case. PW 8 Kaushal Kumar Verma, the then Officer In-charge of Bhagwanpur Police Station is the I.O. of the case.