ISRAFUL SHEIKH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants of this case along with three others stand convicted by a common judgment dated 30/9/1975 of the learned 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Santhal Parganas, Dumka in respect of a dacoity committed in the house of the informant Moti ChandBhagat (P. W. 2), situate in village Jalalpur within Barharwa Police Station of the district of Santhal Parganas, in the night between the 25th and 26th of May, 1977, the dacoits being 10 to 11 in number and this village being at a distance of five miles from the Barhawara Police Station. Nand Kumar Singh (P.W. 10), the Assistant Sub-Inspector of police learnt about this dacoity while be was in village Maharajpur in connection with another criminal case and on getting information, he went to village Jalalpur where he reached at 4 p.m. on 26.5.1971. He found the informant in his house lying injured and prepared the injury report which is exhibit 6. By that time the Medical Officer of Goalkhor, Md. Ekramul Haque (P. W. 9) at the request of the informant, had already examined those injuries at 9.30 a m. on that day and had given him medical aid. There P. W. 10 recorded the fardbeyan of the informant Which has been marked as Exhibit 4, the formal F. I. R. Exhibit 5 having been drawn up by the officer-in-charge Sawaminath Lal (P. W. 12). The informant and the other inmates of his house succeeded in identifying some of the dacoits in the light of the lantern burning in the courtyard as also in the flash of the torches in the hands of the dacoits. While some of the dacoits identified were named in the fardbeyan, the description of some of them, whose names were not known to the informant but were known to him by face from before, were mentioned therein. Certain overt acts were also attributed to some of the dacoits. One of the dacoits subsequently identified as appellant Masoom was said to be a resident of village Dohedpur in the district of Murshidabad and the overt act alleged on his part was that he was catching the feet of the informant while he was being assaulted by the appellant Israful and another dacoit Dahu alias Daghu Sheikh (Dahu) who stands convicted. Two of the dacoits subsequently identified as appellant Badruddin and Islam, were described as Pakistani nationals related to appellant Israful and residing in his house at Kakajol since one month before the occurrence. Like Dahu, Islam also stands convicted under section 395 of the Indian Penal Code by the Trial Court.

(2.) The dacoits, as further stated in the fardbeyan, succeeded in removing cash, ornaments, utensils, clothes etc., as detailed in the fardbeyan, all worth about Rs. 2,000. Lastly it was also stated in the fardbeyan that appellant Israful and his two Pakistani brothers including appellant Badruddin made extra-judicial confession before Md. Hasan All (P. W. 7), Md. Sanaul (P.W. 6) and others, P. W. 6 being a Mukhia, and in pursuance of the extra-judicial confession some of the looted properties had been recovered from the house of appellant Israful. While incriminating themselves as the dacoits committing the dacoity in the house of the informant, appellant Israful also named the other dacoiis including appellant Masoon participating in the said dacoity.

(3.) The Assistant Sub-Inspector of police (P. W. 10) reached village Kakajol and there he took charge of appellant Israful, Islam and appellant Badruddin who had already been arrested by the villagers as also of the articles recovered from the house of appellant Israful, which had been detailed by P. W. 6 in the chart exhibit 2 and regarding which P. W. 10 prepared the seizure list exhibit 7. Two test identification parades both in respect of the suspects and the recovered articles, were arranged and held by Samuel Goria (P. W. 11), the District Sub-Registrar. The result of the test identification parade, in respect of the suspects is contained in the test identification parade chart exhibit 8 and that in respect of the articles recovered is contained in the chart exhibit 9. The chart exhibit 9 shows that the informant's wife Babhni Devi (P. W. 3), a tendered witness, and Sarla Kumari, his daughter, (P. W. 4) as also (P. W. 2) succeeded in identifying all the articles recovered from the house of appellant Israful, as the articles looted by the dacoits. Ultimately the police submitted charge-sheet against the three appellants and six others all of whom, on being committed to the Court of Session were tried by the Additional Sessions Judge.