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All the accused persons, including these appellants, deceased and the prosecution witnesses were residents of a village by name Koli in Panvel taluk of Raigad district. There were two groups in the said village and the said groups were at loggerheads because of certain Government contracts acquired by one group or the other. It is in the background of these disputes, the prosecution alleges that on 22.3.1999 on the outskirts of the said village, the accused persons who were 15 in numbers, attacked Krishna Mahada Naik, one of the deceased, between 7.30 and 8 a.m. with deadly weapons like swords, knives, sickles etc. due to which attack the said deceased was seriously injured. According to the prosecution, this incident was witnessed by PW-3 who was then travelling on his scooter along with a pillion-rider, namely, Narayan Ganu Naik (not examined). The prosecution also alleges that Dhanraj Ambu Bhoir, PW-4, also noticed the said incident. The further case of the prosecution is that the accused persons after assaulting said Krishna Mahada Naik chased PW-3 who by then had turned his scooter and drove the same towards the village and took refuge in the house of one Suresh Kana Naik. The accused persons allegedly entered the house of said Suresh Naik and dragged PW-3 out of the house and started beating him with swords, knives, sickles etc. and due to which PW-3 suffered injuries. The prosecution alleges that after the attack on PW-3, the accused went to the house of one Gangaram Naik, broke open the door of his house and attacked one Krishna Nama Bhoir who happened to be in that house (who later died) and then attacked Pandharinath Ram Bhoir, PW-5 and Bharat Krishna Naik, PW-6 who were also injured because of the said attack. It is the prosecution case that one Meena Mohan Naik, PW-2, went to the city Police Station and narrated the incident to Police Sub-Inspector Sopan Kadu Choudhary, PW-21 who after recording the facts in the station diary proceeded to the scene of occurrence and shifted all the injured persons to the Municipal Dispensary, Panvel. The prosecution alleges that Krishna Nama Bhoir made a dying declaration before the Special Executive Magistrate, PW-13 at Panvel. It is the further case of the prosecution that PW-2 again went to the city Police Station, Panvel and gave a written complaint to the Sub- Inspector, and it is based on the said complaint, a crime was registered against all the accused persons and further investigation was undertaken by PW-21. Out of the injured persons, Krishna Mahada Naik and Krishna Nama Bhoir died while being treated in the hospital. PW-3 who was one of the injured persons was first taken to Bombay for treatment and thereafter brought back to Panvel where his statement was recorded on the day following the incident on 23.3.1993 at about 10 a.m. The prosecution also alleges that in the meantime, the statement of PW-4 was recorded at about 6 p.m. on 22.3.1993 in the village where he was residing. During the course of the investigation, it is stated that the accused persons including the appellants herein were arrested on 31.3.1993 near a Railway building in the village Dapoli, and on statements made by these appellants, certain blood-stained weapons like sickles and spear were recovered from the bushes near a Railway crossing. It is based on the above prosecution case that the accused persons including the appellants were tried by the Additional Sessions Judge, Raigad, who convicted them, as stated above, and which conviction to the extent stated hereinabove, was confirmed by the High Court.