SOKHI BHUIYAN Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the above three appeals preferred by the appellants arise out of one and the same case bearing Sessions Trial No. 187 of 1998 disposed of by 6th Additional Sessions Judge, Aurangabad through two judgments dated 21st January, 2003 and 14th February, 2003. Appeal No. 56 of 2003 arises out of the judgment and order dated 21.1.2003 and 23.1.2003 and rest two appeals arise out of the judgment and order dated 14.2.2003 and 17.2.2003. However, all the three appellants have been convicted under Section 395, IPC and have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years.

(2.) Prosecution story briefly stated as mentioned in fardbeyan (Ext. 1) is that in the night on 4/5th January, 1997, the informant Mangal Singh (PW 5) alongwith his cousin Deolal Singh and relative Sunil Kumar was sleeping in front of his house. In the midnight, he woke up on hearing hulla coming from the house of his gotia Doman Singh and Subedar Singh. In the meantime, five miscreants came to him out of whom he identified Moti Mian, son of one Madhusudan Dubey of village Babhna Bigha and Tuntun Chamar, who is one of the appellants. Tuntun Chamar had pistol in his hand and he was pointing the same upon the informant. About 10-12 dacoits came out from the house of Doman Singh and out of them a few scaled in the Court-yard of the house of informant and opened main entrance of the house from inside. Thereafter, all dacoits entered in the house and looted the articles of the informant. They took away four boxes from the house of Doman Singh and two boxes of the informant. Apart from it, they also took away several articles from other boxes. After committing dacoity, they all fled away after firing shots in air.

(3.) It has further been alleged that when the informant went in the house of Doman Singh he saw that Doman Singh was laying in the courtyard and his legs and hands had been tied with ropes. Subedar Singh told that he identified two dacoits, namely, Sokhi Bhuiyan and Teny Paswan, who had entered in their house. It has further been alleged that about 6-7 dacoits had torch and pistol in their hands and in torch light of the dacoits the informant identified dacoits from theft faces.