PRAVINDRA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Accused/appellants have preferred these Criminal Appeals aggrieved by judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 11/4/2012 passed by Addl. Sessions Judge, Khetri, whereby appellants have been convicted for offence under Ss. 332, 353, 336 R/w 34, 307/34, 302/34 of IPC and 3/25 of Arms Act and sentenced as under:

(2.) Succinctly stated the facts of the case are that on 9/6/2010, the complainant- Udai Singh (PW-3), Sub Inspector of Police, Surajgarh Police Station lodged a written report (Ex. P7) at Police Station Buhana, District Jhunjhunu with regard to an incident alleged to have taken place on the same day wherein it was stated that at around 11:15 am, a telephonic information was received regarding four armed robbers looting and firing in Bank of Baroda and that they are moving towards Kajla village in a Swift car. He then intimated higher authorities and also contacted Constable- Chandrabhan who confirmed his presence at village Kajla. He then directed Constable- Chandrabhan to barricade the road with the help of villagers in order to stop the robbers. Upon reaching the spot along with other police personnel, he saw Chandrabhan along with Ghanshyam Singh, Ummed Singh, Himmat Singh present there and they had one accused in their hold. He also saw that Chandrabhan had sustained bullet injury on his shoulder. Chandrabhan then informed complainant- Udai Singh (PW-3) that as he was barricading the area, a Swift car which was being followed by some villagers in private vehicles arrived at the place. The robbers were trying to flee, so Chandrabhan threw a stone on the windshield which frightened the driver of the car. He then opened the car door, took the accused- Parvinder (driver) out of the car and pushed him to the ground. It was then that other accused fired at him from the back but he along with the villagers still held onto the accused Parvinder. The other accused then kept firing, fled the scene and some villagers followed them. A desi katta was found on the person of accused- Parvinder. Chandrabhan informed that the other remaining accused had gone towards Kajla ki bans. ASI- Hanuman Singh, Incharge, P.S. Bahuna, then reached the spot and they sent injured Chandrabhan to Chiwada hospital and accused- Parvinder to Surajgarh Police Station. Thereafter, they along of the some villagers started moving towards Kajla ki bans, where the remaining accused had fled. After a distance, they found some set of clothes and shoes on the ground. They then found the other accused running naked and on asked to stop, the accused started to fire towards them. The police then returned the fire in self-defence and fired near their leg. One accused received a bullet wound on his thigh while the other received three bullet wounds on his hand, near the belt and on the back. The two accused identified themselves as Pravin and Kuldeep and some weapons were also recovered from their person. They then started moving towards Surajgarh in order to get medical assistance for the injured accused. Upon travelling just some distance, they met SHO, Police Station- Pilani and some villagers who had caught accused- Raghav. SHO, Pilani informed that he had caught the accused while he was trying to flee and they also recovered weapon and Rs.2,54,500.00 on his person. The accused Pravin, Kuldeep and Raghav were then taken to hospital Surajgarh for treatment. The complainant was then informed that constable Chnadrabhan has died of his injuries during treatment.

(3.) On the basis of the above mentioned report, police registered a criminal case bearing FIR No.141/2010 (Ex. P-8) at 6:15 pm on 9/6/2010 for offence under Ss. 332, 353, 336, 302 and 307 IPC, Sec. 3/25 of Arms Act against the accused appellants. The police after due investigation filed charge-sheet against the accused appellants. The learned Trial Court after committal of the case, framed charges against the accusedappellants for offence under Ss. 332, 353, 336 read with Sec. 34, 307 in alternate Sec. 307/34, 302/34 of IPC and Sec. 3/25 of Arms Act. The accused appellants denied the charges and sought trial. Upon which, 29 witnesses were examined, and 52 documents were exhibited on behalf of the prosecution. Explanation of the accused respondent was recorded under Sec. 313 of Cr.P.C. In defence, 5 documents were exhibited. Learned Trial Court after hearing the final arguments for both the parties, has convicted and sentenced the accused appellants as stated hereinabove. Aggrieved by which, the present appeals have been filed.