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2. We heard Sri Rajender Singh, learned senior counsel for the appellants and Sri H.L. Agrawal, learned senior counsel for the respondent. Accused No. 6 Mundrika Singh and one Chandrika Singh are brothers. Accused No. 1 Prem Singh is the son of Mundrika Singh. Accused No. 2 Ramesh Singh is the son of Chandrika Singh. It is alleged that one Rajan, brother of Accused No. 1 Prem Singh, and Bishwanath, brother of Accused No. 2 Ramesh Singh, were murdered by Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. and others on 2.10.1982. The case was still pending when the incident relevant to the instant case happened on 13.1.1983 at about 6.30 p.m. at Ketat. It is fairly clear from the evidence in the case, that enmity exists between the members of the appellants' family and those of the deceased family. The prosecution alleged that on 13.1.1983 after attending the hearing of the murder case of Rajan and Bishwanath at Daltonganj, Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh accompanied by Bashishth Narain Singh, PW 8, as also Sheo Pratap Singh and Ramadhar Pathak, boarded the bus bearing Registration No. BRO 3555 of Santosh Transport Company, for returning to Rehla at 5.30 p.m., and the bus stopped for a while at the stop of Ketat, when car bearing Registration No. WMB 5989 came from behind and stopped in front of the bus. The time was about 6.30 p.m. Then Accused Nos. 2 and 6 and their colleagues Satyender Singh, Munni Dixit got down from the car. Accused No. 6 was empty handed but the remaining persons were armed with rifles. In the meanwhile Jeep bearing Registration No. BRO 2770, which also arrived from the side of Daltonganj, stopped in front of the bus. From that Jeep, Accused No. 1, armed with a rifle, and his colleagues Rajeshwar Singh, Bishwanath Singh, Parsuram Dixit, Basistha Dixit, Fakira Dixit and Chandardhan Singh and two other unknown persons, all armed with guns alike, alighted. The accused and other co-culprits started proclaiming that as Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was inside the bus, he should be cut into pieces. On hearing this, the passengers of the bus were struck with terror and started fleeing away. Passengers were in the process of getting down from front and rear entrances. At that time Accused Nos. 1 and 2 came inside the bus from the front entrance. PW 8 Dudhnath Singh, in order to hide his identity, had wrapped his face with the chadar and rushed towards the back door of the bus, when he saw Accused Nos. 1 and 2 firing indiscriminately at Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. In that firing Ram Raj Pandey - PW 5, a forest guard, and Ghanshyam Languri - PW 6, a police offi- cial, also received injuries. PW 8 Dudhnath Singh had by that time managed to get down from the bus like many other passengers and he concealed himself nearby in thick bushes. On knowing that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh had died, the accused and others raised victory slogans and fled towards Daltonganj in their car and jeep. On hearing the news, Sub Inspector Sachchidanand Deo, PW 14, entered the information as Entry No. 195 (Ex. 4) at 7.00 p.m. in Rehla Police Station and rushed to the place of occurrence, arriving there at 7.15 p.m. On seeing the police PW 8 Dudhnath Singh came out of the hiding and made a statement (Ex. 5) which was sent to the Police Station, Bishrampur and on this basis the case was registered vide FIR (Ex. 7) at 9.00 p.m. PW 5 and 6 were transported to Daltonganj hospital. Though the search was made for the culprits they were not found. The Sub Inspector retained to the spot at about 1.30 a.m. and prepared the inquest report with respect to the dead body of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. He lifted three live gun car- tridges vide seizure memo Ex. 9. PW 1 Bashishth Narain Singh and Bipin Bihari Singh attested the documents prepared at the spot. The dead body of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was subjected to postmortem examination by Dr. R.K.P. Pandey (PW

4. As stated earlier, the plea of the appellants was that the prosecution allegations are untrue and that they were innocent. Accused Nos. 1 and 6 and two other accused advanced the plea of alibi and examined DW 1 to 3 in support of the same. The said evidence did not find favour with the trial court. The appellants also examined DW 4 Kuldip Roy and DW 5 Priya Brat Singh to show that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was a terror.
5. Certain crucial aspects appearing in the case deserve to be highlighted. Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was shot dead inside the bus bearing Registration No. BRO 3555 at the bus stop Ketat at about 6.30 p.m. on 13.1.1983.The deceased met with instantaneous death. PW 1, PW 2, PW 5 an PW 8 are the eye witnesses. PW 8 lodge FIR on the same day at 7.30 p.m. PW 5, forest guard, was a co-passenger and independent witness. He also speaks about the incident and he was injured in the act of firing by Accused Nos. 1 and 2. The postmortem report and the evidence of PW 4 proves that the injury resulted due to shots of fire arms. There was, admittedly enmity between the family of the informants and that of the accused. Deceased Tarkeshwar Prasad singh, along with PW 1, 2, 8 and PW 5 & 6, and few others was returning in the bus belonging to Santosh Transport Company, on 13.1,1983, after attending the murder case of Rajan and Bishwanath. The prosecution states that Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh (Accused Nos 1 and 2), who came from behind in the jeep and the car along with few others, fired fatal shots at Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh with their rifles in furtherance of common intention of the other accused per-

7. We were taken through the evidence of PW 1, and 4 (medical witness), PW 5 independent witness (Forest Guard) and PW 8 - first informant and PW 12, We have also gone through the FIR appearing at pages 51-54 (paper book No. III Annexure p-10) and also the statement given by the accused in their examination under Section 313 of Criminal Procedure Code. We shall now advert to the salient features disclosed by the said evidence appearing in the case.

8. PW 1, Bashishth Narain Singh is the father-in-law of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. He deposed before the Court that himself, PW 2, PW 8 and the few others were in the Santosh Bus when it stopped at Ketat village, a jeep and a car came from behind and 10-15 persons armed with rifles and guns got down from both the vehicles and shouted that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh is in the bus and he should be cut. He was trying to get down from the bus to run away when Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh, Accused Nos. 1 and 2, came from the front gate with rifles along with Mundrika Singh (A-6). There were amongst passengers, one Forest Department Official (PW 5) and another police official (PW 6). He knew Mundrika Singh, Ramesh Singh and Prem Singh for a long time. No doubt he had developed weakness in the eyes two months prior to the date of examination, but he had clear vision and his eyes were alright at the time of the occurrence. He admitted that he had given statement before the police that Ramesh Singh and Prem Singh started firing at Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh after entering into the bus. He heard the noise of firing when he was fleeing from the bus and also heard the shout of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh to save him. PW 2 Ran Vijay Pratap Deo, deposed that he boarded Santosh Bus in the evening to come back to Rehla along with PW 1, PW 8 and Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh and when the bus halted near Ketat village to drop some passengers, a fiat car came from Daltonganj direction and stopped before the bus. Accused Ramesh Singh and others with rifles in the hands, and Mundrika Singh got down. Mundrika Singh's hands were empty. A jeep also came from behind and Prem Singh and others got down from the jeep with the rifles. The jeep and the car surrounded the bus and thereafter, he heard the noise of firing from the bus gate. Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh were standing near the front gate of the bus with rifle. The moment he came out of the bus, he heard the noise of firing andsimultaneously the shout of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. He also speaks about the enmity between the accused and Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. Ac- cording to him, there was indiscriminate firing in the bus. PW 5, a forest officer and independent witness, stated before the Court that he boarded Santosh Bus at Daltonganj bus stand on 13.1.1983 and when the bus stopped in front of Ketat village, 5-6 persons surrounded the bus and started firing indiscriminately. He was injured due to firing Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh died inside the bus, hit by the bul- let. Persons firing were outside the bus next to the bus door and were firing inside. The bullet hit the witness after breaking the glass of the bus window. He knew Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh before since he was a forest contractor. PW -8 Dudhnath Singh, who gave the FIR available at pages 51-54 of Volume III of the paper book, is the brother-in-law of the deceased Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. In the FIR he has stated that along with Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh, PW 1, 2 and others, they boarded the bus at Daltonganj' and when the bus reached Ketat village at about 6.45 in the evening to drop a passenger, a car, belonging to Chandrika Singh, bearing No. WHB 5989, came overtaking the bus and stopped in front of It. The passengers, sitting in it, got down and were armed with guns and rifles. He recognised those persons Among them Ramesh Singh, Accused No. 2, and others had rifles. immediately after this the jeep, bearing No. BRO 770, came and Prem Singh, Accused 1, and others got down with rifles in hand. All the persons in the car and the jeep surrounded the standing bus and said that 'sala' Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh is in he should be taken out and cut into pieces. The persons traveling inside the started begging for life and started fleeing. Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh were identifying the, passengers and PW 8, by hiding his face, got down from the rear gate. Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was in the back. As soon as the witness reached the rear gate, he saw Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh entering the bus from the front gate with their rifles and started indiscriminate firing on Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. The witness ran outside to save his life, but while running he heard Tarkeshwar Singh's shouts from inside the bus. He hid himself in nearby bushes. The reason for this murder is that Prem Singh, Ramesh Singh and others had enmity towards Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh and wanted to take revenge due to the pending murder case of Rajan and Bishwanath in Daltonganj. As PW 8, the witness, substantially corroborated what he stated in the FIR. He deposed that he was travelling along with Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh, PW 1 and others in the bus belonging to Santosh Transport Company. At about 6.45 p.m. at Ketat village the bus stopped to drop a passenger when a Fiat car bearing No. WHB 5989 stopped in front of the bus and Ramesh Singh and others came out of the same with rifles and thereafter a jeep bearing No. BRO 2770 came and Prem Singh and others got down out of the jeep with rifles and all of them abusing Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh stated that he should be cut into pieces. Prem Singh and Ramesh Singh stood near the front door of the bus and fired shots with rifles. PW 8 was successful in fleeing away by covering his face with a chadar. He saw that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh got injured by the bullet inside the bus. Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh was behind him when firing had taken place. He did not see bullet being fired on any other passenger other than Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. Another person. who was a forest guard, was injured, hit by a bullet. The FIR available at pages 51-54 of volume III of the paper book and the deposition of the eye witnesses, PW 1, PW 2, PW 5 and PW 8, of when PW 5 is an independent witness, clearly bring out the fact that Accused Nos. 1 and 2 came in a jeep and a car with rifles, with a few other persons, that they got into the bus from the front and fired indiscriminately at Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh. PW 5, a forest officer as an independent witness, who himself sustained in- juries, has also stated that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh died inside the bus due to hit by the bullets. 'Mere is no contradiction with regard to the crucial aspects, namely, that these witnesses travelled with Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh in the same bus, that the bus stopped at Ketat village to drop a passenger, at that time Accused Nos. 1 and 2 came in a jeep and a car with rifles, from behind, along with others, surrounded the bus and after proclaiming that Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh is inside the bus and he should be cut into pieces, they entered the bus and fired indiscriminately, at Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh, which resulted in the death of Tarkeshwar Prasad Singh instantaneously.

10. Sachchidanand Deo, Inspector of Police, PW 14, who recorded the FIR, stated that he had seized two bullet on the front gate foot-steps of the bus and that he did not find any rifle or gun at the place of occurrence or nearby and that he recorded the FIR and other statements from the witnesses etc. It is also important to notice that PW 8 has given the number of the Fiat car and the jeep and PW 12 Chandreshwar Upadhyay, who came along with Prem Singh in jeep has categorically stated that the number of the jeep is BRO 2770 and Prem Singh regularly used to bring him in that jeep.