1 - Yashwant Pali S/o Ramesh Pali Aged About 21 Years R/o Village Bidora v. State of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, P
Case Details
1 ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA Digitally signed by ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA 2025:CGHC:19052-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 1360 of 2024 1 - Yashwant Pali S/o Ramesh Pali Aged About 21 Years R/o Village Bidora, P.S. Sahaspur Lohara, District Kabirdham (C.G.) 2 - Komal @ Chootu Pali S/o Dilip Pali Aged About 19 Years R/o Village Bidora, P.S. Sahaspur Lohara, District Kabirdham (C.G.) 3 - Heman @ Hemant Pali S/o Ganesh Pali Aged About 19 Years R/o Village Bidora, P.S. Sahaspur Lohara, District Kabirdham (C.G.) ... Appellants versus State of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, P.S. Sahaspur Lohara, District Kabirdham (C.G.) ... Respondent For Appellants For Respondent/State : Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, Govt. Advocate : Mr. Ajay Ayachi, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Hon'ble Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Shri Arvind Kumar Verma, Judge Judgment on Board . Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J 28.04.2025 1. This criminal appeal preferred under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, ‘CrPC’) is directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 26.06.2024 passed by the Special Judge, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Kabirdham (C.G.) 2 in Atrocity Special Case No. 410/2020, whereby the Special Judge has convicted and sentenced the appellants with a direction to run all the sentences concurrently in the following manner : CONVICTION SENTENCE U/s 363 of Indian Penal R.I. for 7 years and fine amount of Code Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 1 month to each appellants. U/s 120B of Indian Penal Life imprisonment and fine amount of Code Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 1 month to each appellants. U/s 302 of Indian Penal Life imprisonment and fine amount of Code Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 1 month to each appellants. U/s 201 of Indian Penal R.I. for 7 years and fine amount of Code Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 1 month to each appellants. U/s 3(2)(v) of the SC & ST R.I. for 7 years and fine amount of (Prevention of Atrocities) Rs.500/-, in default of payment of Act fine, additional R.I. for 1 month to each appellants. 2. Case of the prosecution, in nutshell, is that on 26.12.2019 complainant Kushal Ram Rana filed a report in Police Station Sahaspur Lohara to the effect that, his younger son Donish Kumar alias Himanshu, aged about 09 years, went out to play 3 badminton near the house with racket and shuttle cock at 05:30 pm, but did not return to his house till night, he searched him at nearby place and inquired from his friends and family through mobile, but could not find him, therefore, he has a doubt that his son was kidnapped by some unknown person. On the basis of said report, a Missing Person Report No.14/19 was registered as per Ex.P-74, thereafter, Assistant Sub-Inspector Bishat Bharti registered First Information Report bearing Crime No. 51/2020 under Section 363 IPC against an unknown person at Police Station Sahaspur Lohara as per Ex.P-1. 3. During investigation, Inspector Mukesh Yadav reached the spot on 27.12.2019 and prepared the map of the spot as per the information given by the complainant, Ex.P-02. On 31.01.2020, witnesses Komal Bhuarya and Rameshwar Netam were given notice Ex.P. 18 to remain present during the interrogation of the accused. Accused Yashwant Pali, Komal alias Chhotu Pali and Hemant Pali were taken into custody and taken to Kabirdhamsar Pre Madhyamik School premises, Bidora, where they were interrogated in front of witnesses and memorandum statements of the accused were recorded, Ex.P-19, Ex.P-20 and remaining statements 21 respectively. On the basis of memorandum statements of the accused, the spot mentioned by them was inspected and site inspection panchnama Ex.P. 31 was prepared. On the basis of memorandum statement of accused Yashwant Pali, one piece of stone was seized from the incident spot school 4 as per seizure memo Ex.P-22. As per the statement of the accused, a visual map of the incident spot Ex.P-32 was prepared in front of witnesses. As per the information given by accused Hemant Pali, one badminton racket and a shuttle cock were seized from the roof of the place of incident, Primary School, Bidora, as per seizure memo Ex.P. 23. 4. During investigation by Inspector Mukesh Yadav, as per the information given by the accused, appeared at Tatawahi village along with witnesses and searched the area around Mohan Patel's Ghuruwa pit as per the information given by the accused and search panchnama Ex.P-33 was prepared in front of witnesses. At some distance from Mohan Patel's Ghuruwa pit, on the indication of the accused, a half pant, a red shirt, a sky blue vest, a piece of underwear, all the clothes having blood like stains, were recovered and recovery panchnama Ex.P. 35 was prepared in front of witnesses. The clothes recovered were identified by the father of the deceased in front of witnesses, who identified the said clothes as belonging to the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana, identification panchnama Ex.P-04 was prepared in this regard. In the presence of witnesses, 20 human bones, big and small, were recovered after searching around Ghuruwa in the forest of Tatawahi, the place of occurrence and search panchanama Ex.P-28 was prepared. One half pant, one blue shirt, a sky blue coloured vest and an underwear were seized as per seizure memo Ex.P. 27 from Ghuruwa of Mohan Patel. 5. During investigation by Inspector Mukesh Yadav, on the basis of 5 memorandum statement from accused Yashwant Pali, a red brown green yellow coloured blanket having blood like stains was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-24. On the basis of memorandum statement of accused Komal Pali, a jute sack having cellotape and a black coloured button and a brown coloured cotton towel having blood stains were seized from Mohan Patel's Ghuruwa as per seizure memo Ex.P-25. On the presentation of accused Yashwant Pali, a blue coloured full shirt, the said shirt had a total of 06 black buttons and the third button from the bottom was missing, was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-30. On the basis of the memorandum statement of accused Hemant Pali, five pieces of cellotape were seized from Mohan Patel's Ghuruva, out of which one piece of cellotape had a blood like stain on it, as per seizure memo Ex.P-26. On the basis of the memorandum statement and on the presentation of accused Komal Pali, the motorcycle CD Deluxe used in the incident was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-29. 6. Inspector Mukesh Yadav recorded the information of untimely and sudden death of Donish alias Himanshu Rana at the scene of incident and registered Rural Murder No. 0/2020 vide Ex.P-51. Notice Ex.P-05 was given to the witnesses to be present for preparing the Panchnama of the pieces of bones recovered from the deceased and Panchnama of the remains of the bones recovered in front of witnesses and inquest Ex.P-06 was 6 prepared. Application form Ex.P-52 was given to Community Health Center Sahaspur Lohara for testing the bones recovered from the scene of incident of deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana. On the advice of Medical Officer, Community Health Center Sahaspur Lohara to get the said bones tested from Government Medical College Rajnandgaon, Inspector Mukesh Yadav sent the pieces of bones of Donish alias Himanshu Rana to Government Medical College Rajnandgaon for testing. 7. After taking action at the place of incident, village Tatawahi, Inspector Mukesh Yadav returned to the police station and recorded the information of untimely and accidental death of Donish alias Himanshu Rana and registered Merg No. 03/2020 vide Ex.P-53 at police station Sahaspur Lohara. The accused were arrested as per arrest slips Ex.P-54, Ex.P-55 and Ex.P-56 respectively and information of arrest was given to the family members of the accused and acknowledgement of arrest Ex.P-57 was received. 8. On 02.02.2020 by Constable No. 581 Kripal Singh of Police Station Sahaspur Lohara, Kabirdham, when the bones of the missing person Donish alias Himanshu Rana son of Kushal Rana, aged about 09 years, resident of village Bidora were brought for examination by Dr. Dutta Sorte, femur, tibia, fibula, 06 ribs, tylus (one), cuboid, tarsal (03), phalanges were examined and test report Ex.P-38 was provided. 9. During the investigation by Inspector Mukesh Yadav, an 7 application form Ex.P-58 was given to Tehsildar Sahaspur Lohara to prepare a map of the incident site by the Patwari. On the orders of Tehsildar Sahaspur Lohara, Patwari Yashwant Markam prepared the maps of the incident site vide Exs.P-13 and P-14 in the presence of villagers and witnesses as per their instructions. A memo Ex.P-40 was sent to the Superintendent of Police Kabirdham for providing CD of photography and videography done at the incident site. On the orders of Superintendent of Police Kabirdham, constable Nevant Mishra prepared CD of photography and videography and presented CD article A-1, which was seized by inspector Mukesh Yadav as per seizure memo Ex.P-41. 10. Inspector Mukesh Yadav sent a letter dated 15.01.2020 Ex.P-59 to the Superintendent of Police to provide call details and SDR of mobile numbers 6266960220 and 9399670168. DVD and CDR were made available from the office of the Superintendent of Police. Certificate 65-B of the aforesaid mobile numbers Ex.P-60 from Jio Company and computer generated copy of CAF and CDR provided by the company Ex.P-61 (in 10 pages) bearing the seal of the Company were made available to the Superintendent of Police, Kabirdham, which were received and attached to the case. 11. During the investigation, on 17.03.2020, in front of witnesses, Inspector Mukesh Yadav seized five small pieces of bone, one 8 piece resembling a human tooth and two small bunches of human hair from the crime scene as per seizure memo Ex.P-34. On 18.03.2020, an application form Ex.P-62 was given to BMO, Community Health Center Sahaspur Lohara regarding querying of pieces of bone, human-like teeth and clump of human-like hair which were seized on 17.03.2020. On 18.03.2020, Dr. Sanjay Kharsan, Medical Officer sent an application to inform about the result of querying the seized goods in crime number 198/2019 of Police Station Incharge Sahaspur Lohara, after examining the seized property, it was opined that it would be appropriate to send
Legal Reasoning
the property to FSL Raipur to confirm whether there is human blood in the seized property or not and if there is human blood, then it should be sent to FSL to confirm what is its blood group and it would be appropriate to get the seized bone, teeth and clump of hair tested through DNA. The query report given in this regard is Ex.P-17. 12. Notice Ex.P-11 was given to complainant Kushal Rana to provide caste certificate of his and his deceased son. On 13.04.2020, on presenting by the complainant Kushal Rana, Inspector Mukesh Yadav seized the applicant Kushal Rana's and his son's caste certificate vide Ex.P. 07 and birth certificate of deceased Donish Kumar Rana as per Ex.P-08 and deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana's second class mark sheet (Ex.P-09) was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-10. On 24.03.2020, an application form Ex.P. 63 was sent to Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kawardha for 9 granting permission to take blood sample of Dameshwari Rana and Kushal Rana for DNA testing. On 25.03.2020, when Head Constable Khubiram Sahu presented the blood sample of Kushal Rana in a sealed packet and the blood sample of Dameshwari Rana in a sealed packet for DNA testing from the hospital, it was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-50. On 14.04.2020, when Gautam Pali presented the RC book of the motorcycle seized in the case, it was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P-64. 13. Inspector Mukesh Yadav handed over the seized property in the case to the clerk of the store room for safekeeping. The seized property in the case, a piece of stone in a sealed packet, a seized blanket in a sealed packet, a jute bag and a towel in a sealed packet, cellotape in a sealed packet, pant shirt, vest and underwear of the deceased in a sealed packet were sent to the State Forensic Forensic Science Laboratory, Raipur for chemical testing vide Ex.P-45 through the Superintendent of Police, whose exhibit receipt Ex.P. 47 and test report Ex.P. 65 were obtained and attached in the case. The seized property in the case, a terhra coloured full shirt in a sealed packet, a black coloured button in a sealed packet were sent to the State Forensic Forensic Science Laboratory, Raipur for chemical testing along with the memorandum Ex.P. 46 of the Superintendent of Police. It was sent for testing, whose exhibit receipt Ex.P-48 and test report Ex.P-66 were obtained and attached in the case. 14. During investigation by Inspector Mukesh Yadav, five pieces of 10 bone, one piece of tooth and two bunches of human-like hair in a sealed packet, blood sample of Kushal Rana in a sealed tube and blood sample of Dameshwari Rana in a sealed tube were sent for DNA testing to the State Forensic Forensic Science Laboratory DNA Unit Raipur along with the memorandum Ex.P. 67 of the Superintendent of Police, whose exhibit receipt is Ex.P. 68 and DNA test report Ex.P. 69 and Ex.P. 70 were obtained and attached to the case. The Superintendent of Police Kabirdham gave an authorization letter Ex.P. 71 regarding permission to make cuts for DNA testing. On 21.04.2020, the receipt book of mobile purchase from Sadhelal Banjare, which contained the receipt of mobile purchased by Hemant Pali, was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P. 36. On adding the section of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case, application form Ex.P. 72 was given to the Superintendent of Police for getting further investigation done by the Deputy Superintendent of Police and on 21.04.2020, information Ex.P.73 was given to the Judicial Magistrate, Kawardha regarding adding the section of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case. 15. During investigation by Inspector Mukesh Yadav, under Section 161 CrPC, statements of complainant Kushal Rana, witnesses Dameshwari Rana, Komal, Rameshwar, Mannu, Siyaram, Ramji, Mohan Patel, Mohd. Irfan alias Kaju, Khemu Nishad, Mrs. Sonia Bai, Nekram Taram, Vishwanath Rana, Anusuiya Devangan, Vijay 11 Gerve, Bhojraj Patel, Sadhelal, Ghanshyam Verma, Tularam, Amit Sharma, Rakesh alias Rinku were recorded. Case diary was handed over to Deputy Superintendent of Police B.R. Mandavi for further investigation. 16. During the investigation by the then Deputy Superintendent of Police B.R. Mandavi, a Realme company mobile with SIM number 9399670168 was seized from Chetan Pali and the bill of the said mobile (Ex.P.37) was seized as per seizure memo Ex.P. 39. On 17.04.2020, notices to give statements were issued to Kushal Rana and Dameshwari Rana vide Ex.P-12 and Ex.P-16 respectively. Notices were given to witnesses Khemu Nishad, Irfan, Rikhiram Dhurve, Ishwari Patel, Nekram Taram, Mrs. Sonia under Ex.P. 76, Ex.P. 77, Ex.P. 78, Ex.P. 79, Ex.P. 80 and Ex.P. 81 respectively and statements of witnesses Kushal Rana, Dameshwari Rana, Mohd. Irfan, Khemu Nishad, Mrs. Sonia Bai, Nekram Taram, Ishwari Ram Patel, Rikhiram Dhurve, Chetan Pali were recorded under section 161 Cr.P.C. 17. After completing the investigation, the charge sheet against the accused has been presented before the Court of Special Judge, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Kabirdham (C.G.). 18. Charges were framed against the accused under Sections 363, 120-B, 302 and 201 of the IPC and under Section 3 (2) (v) of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 that, on 26.12.2019 at about 05:30 pm at Birora, a minor Donish @ 12 Himanshu Rana was abducted from the guardianship of his legal guardian without the consent of the guardian, the accused appellants hatched a criminal conspiracy to kidnap Donish @ Himanshu Rana with a plan to extort ransom of Rs.30 Lacs from the father of minor Donish @ Himanshu Rana, then they murdered Donish by causing injury on his head and by strangulating him, causing intentional death and destroyed the evidence by burying the dead body of the deceased Donish in Ghuruwa of Village Tatawahi Basti. They committed the above mentioned crime knowing that, the said minor Donish belongs to Scheduled Tribe category. 19. In support of its case, prosecution had examined witnesses Kushal Ram (PW-1), Yashwant Markam (PW-2), Bhojram Patel
Legal Reasoning
(PW-3), Smt. Dameshwari Rana (PW-4), Dr. Sanjay Kharsan (PW-5), Komal Kumar Bhuarya (PW-6), Khemu Nishad (PW-7), Md. Irfan alias Kaju (PW-8), Sadhelal (PW-9), Dr. Datta Sorate (PW-10), Rameshwar Netam (PW-11), Nevant Mishra (PW-12), Mahesh Kumar Verma (PW-13), Khubiram Sahu (PW-14), Inspector Mukesh Yadav (PW-15), Sanjeev Nema (PW-16) and the then Deputy Superintendent of Police B.R. Mandavi (PW-17). The accused have not produced any evidence in their defence. 20. The accused denied the charges levelled against them. In their trial under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the accused persons did not produce any witness in their defence, claiming innocence and being falsely implicated. 13 21. The Special Judge upon appreciation of oral and documentary evidence available on record, by its impugned judgment dated 26.06.2024, convicted and sentenced the accused/appellants as aforementioned, against which, this criminal appeal has been preferred. 22. Mr. Ajay Ayachi, learned counsel for the appellants would submit that there is no clinching evidence available in the case to connect the appellants in crime in question and there is no eyewitness to the incident. There is no evidence of ransom demand. He would further submit on the first occasion when the Police has seized the bones from the place of incident, on being examined by the doctor, it was found to be bones of animal bones, but after about more than one month, the Police have again collected the human bones for which the allegation of commission of murder has been levelled against the appellants. The alleged memorandum and seizure of clothes, and other articles from the appellants have also not been connected with the offence in question, as the FSL report is not conclusive. It has been submitted that the memorandum statement taken under Section 27 of the Evidence Act is not admissible as evidence for confession of crime. Motive to commit murder is also not proved. Further that all the evidences have been collected after about a month and on the basis of such a weak type of evidence, the appellants have been convicted. He would also submit that the learned trial Court has completely failed to properly consider the evidence available in 14 the case and looking to the evidence which is available before learned trial Court there is nothing believable and trust worthy evidence to show that the appellants have abducted the deceased and committed murder and there is no any motive is proved and even then the learned trial Court has passed this order on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The evidence available on the face of record are shaky in nature and there are several contradictions and omissions are found in the statement of the witnesses and the same were not considered by the learned trial Court in proper manner, thus the conviction and sentence passed by the learned trial Court below is illegal. Therefore, the judgment of conviction recorded and sentence awarded deserves to be set aside. 23. On the other hand, Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, learned Government Advocate, appearing for the State/respondent opposed the aforesaid submissions and would submit that there is sufficient evidence on record to show the involvement of the appellants. He would further submit that the chain of circumstantial evidence has been proved by the prosecution on the basis of which the learned trial Court has convicted the accused/appellants. On the basis of memorandum statements of the appellants, certain articles were seized at the instance of the accused/appellants. Statement of the prosecution witnesses clearly proved that the minor boy had been abducted and murdered by the accused persons and the same has also been observed by the learned trial. Thus, the prosecution 15 has tendered sufficient and credible evidence for proving the commission of offence by the accused/appellants. The learned trial Court has appreciated the evidence in correct perspective and has recorded the finding of the guilt of accused as such, the trial Court has rightly convicted the appellants and therefore, the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 24. We have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties, considered their rival submissions made hereinabove and also went through the records with utmost circumspection. 25. The first question for consideration would be whether the deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana was a member of Scheduled Tribe ? 26. In relation to the above conceptual question, complainant Kushal Ram Rana (PW-1), Bhojram Patel (PW-3), Smt. Dameshwari Rana (PW-4), Komal Kumar Bhuarya (PW-6), Khemu Nishad (PW-7), Mohd. Irfan alias Kaju (PW-8), Sadhelal (PW-9) and Rameshwar Netam (PW-10) have stated in their respective statements that the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana belonged to the Scheduled Tribe "Halba" caste. The said evidence of these witnesses has not been challenged in cross- examination. 27. The complainant Kushal Ram Rana (PW-1) further stated in his statement that the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana was his younger son. The police had issued notices to him for producing his caste certificate (Ex.P-11). He had given the caste 16 certificate (Ex.P-7), birth certificate (Ex.P-8) and second class mark sheet (Ex.P-9) of the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana to the police, which the police had seized from him and prepared seizure memo (Ex.P-10). According to the caste verification certificate (Ex.P-7) of Kushal Ram Rana, father of deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, which has been issued by the competent authority, Kushal Ram Rana, father of deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, is a member of the Scheduled Tribe "Halba". From the observation of the birth certificate (Ex.P-08) of deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, it is also shown that deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, who is the son of Kushal Rana and mother Smt. Dameshwari Rana, is a member of the Scheduled Tribe "Halba". Thus, the above documents and evidence of witnesses support the fact that deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana belonged to the Scheduled Tribe ‘Halba’. Therefore, it is found proved that the deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana is a member of the Scheduled Tribe. No evidence has been produced by the accused on the point that they are also members of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. 28. The next question for consideration would be whether the accused abducted the minor Donish alias Himanshu Rana from the guardianship of his legal guardian by taking him on 26.12.2019 at about 05.30 p.m. at Birora without the consent of the guardian, committed his murder by causing injury on 17 his head and strangulating him to death and destroyed evidence by burying the body of the deceased at Ghuruwa in Tatawahi Basti village ? 29. There is no eyewitness to the incident. The case of the prosecution is completely based on circumstantial evidence. It has been consistently laid down by the Supreme Court that where a case rests squarely on circumstantial evidence, the inference of guilt can be justified only when all the incriminating facts and circumstances are found to be incompatible with the innocence of the accused or the guilt of any other person. (See Hukam Singh v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1977 SC 1063; Eradu and Ors. v. State of Hyderabad, AIR 1956 SC 316; Earabhadrappa v. State of Karnataka, AIR 1983 SC 446; State of U.P. v. Sukhbasi and Ors., AIR 1985 SC 1224; Balwinder Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1987 SC 350; Ashok Kumar Chatterjee v. State of M.P., AIR 1989 SC 1890. The circumstances from which an inference as to the guilt of the accused is drawn have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and have to be shown to be closely connected with the principal fact sought to be inferred from those circumstances. In Bhagat Ram v. State of Punjab, AIR 1954 SC 621, it was laid down by the Surpeme Court that where the case depends upon the conclusion drawn from circumstances the cumulative effect of the circumstances must be such as to negative the innocence of the accused and bring the offences home beyond any reasonable doubt. 18 30. We may also make a reference to a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in C. Chenga Reddy and Ors. v. State of A.P., (1996) 10 SCC 193, wherein it has been observed thus: “In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the settled law is that the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is drawn should be fully proved and such circumstances must be conclusive in nature. Moreover, all the circumstances should be complete and there should be no gap left in the chain of evidence. Further the proved circumstances must be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused and totally inconsistent with his innocence....”. 31. In Padala Veera Reddy v. State of A.P. and Ors., AIR 1990 SC 79, it was laid down by the Supreme Court that when a case rests upon circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy the following tests: “(1) the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established; (2) those circumstances should be of a definite tendency unerringly pointing towards guilt of the accused; (3) the circumstances, taken cumulatively should form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and none else; and (4) the circumstantial evidence in order to sustain conviction must be complete and incapable of explanation of any other hypothesis than that of the 19 guilt of the accused and such evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but should be inconsistent with his innocence. 32. In State of U.P. v. Ashok Kumar Srivastava, 1992 Crl.LJ 1104, it was pointed out by the Supreme Court that great care must be taken in evaluating circumstantial evidence and if the evidence relied on is reasonably capable of two inferences, the one in favour of the accused must be accepted. It was also pointed out that the circumstances relied upon must be found to have been fully established and the cumulative effect of all the facts so established must be consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt. 33. Sir Alfred Wills in his admirable book “Wills’ Circumstantial Evidence” (Chapter VI) lays down the following rules specially to be observed in the case of circumstantial evidence: (1) the facts alleged as the basis of any legal inference must be clearly proved and beyond reasonable doubt connected with the factum probandum; (2) the burden of proof is always on the party who asserts the existence of any fact, which infers legal accountability; (3) in all cases, whether of direct or circumstantial evidence the best evidence must be adduced which the nature of the case admits; (4) in order to justify the inference of guilt, the inculpatory facts must be incompatible with the innocence of the accused and incapable of explanation, upon any other reasonable hypothesis than that of his guilt, (5) if there be any reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused, he is entitled as of right to be acquitted”. 34. Five golden principles which constitute Panchseel of proof of case 20 based on circumstantial evidence have been laid down by the Supreme Court in the matter of Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, (1984) 4 SCC 116, which state as under:- “(1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be fully established. The circumstances concerned “must” or “should” and not “may be” established; (2) the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they should not be explainable on any other hypothesis except that the accused is guilty; (3) the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency; (4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except the one to be proved; and (5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused and must show that in all human probability the act must have been done by the accused.” 35. In the matter of Trimukh Maroti Kirkan Vs. State of Maharashtra, (2006) 1 SCC 681, the Supreme Court has held as under:- “12. In the case in hand there is no eyewitness of the occurrence and the case of the prosecution rests on circumstantial evidence. The normal principle in a case based on circumstantial evidence is that the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn must be cogently and firmly established; that those circumstances should be of a 21 definite tendency unerringly pointing towards the guilt of the accused; that the circumstances taken cumulatively should form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and they should be incapable of explanation on any hypothesis other than that of the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence.” 36. The principles of circumstantial evidence is reiterated in Nizam and another vs. State of Rajasthan, (2016) 1 SCC 550, wherein the Supreme Court has held that:- “8. Case of the prosecution is entirely based on the circumstantial evidence. In a case based on circumstantial evidence, settled law is that the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is drawn should be fully proved and such circumstances must be conclusive in nature. Moreover, all the circumstances should be complete, forming a chain and there should be no gap left in the chain of evidence. Further, the proved circumstances must be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused totally inconsistent with his innocence.” 37. In this case the prosecution presented the following circumstances against the accused :- (1) On the basis of the memorandum statement of accused Yashwant Pali, at his pointing out, a stone was seized from the place of incident school and a red, brown, green and yellow colored blanket was seized from Ghuruva pit and blood was found in it. 22 (2) Seizure of a sack and a towel from Ghuruva pit at the place indicated by accused Komal Pali alias Chhotu on the basis of his memorandum statement and blood was found in them. (3) Seizure of one shuttle cock at the place of accused Hemant Pali on the basis of his memorandum statement and seizure of cellotape from near Ghuruva pit. (4) On the basis of the memorandum statement of the accused and at their pointing out, one piece of plain blue pant, one red colour checked shirt, one sky blue colour child's vest and one lined cotton underwear were seized and blood was found in the pant, shirt and vest. (5) On the basis of the memorandum statement of accused Yashwant Pali, at his pointing out, his dark colour full-shirt, the lower side third button of which is missing and has been confiscated. The said missing button was found in a jute sack from Ghuruva pit. (6) The DNA profile of the seized gamchha and half pant was found to be the biological child of deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana as per the DNA profile K and L of his mother and father in the DNA test. (7) On the date of incident the witness Khemu Nishad (PW-7) saw the accused travelling on a motorcycle with some items wrapped in a blanket towards Dhangaon Road at a high speed and they did not stop despite being called out to by the witness. 23 (8) The accused were talking on mobile phone one day before and on the date of the incident. (9) Bringing the badminton racket of deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana by the mother of accused Hemant and younger brother Chetan from their house on the date of incident. 38. Therefore, now it has to be seen whether all the above circumstances are proved by the evidence presented by the prosecution? 39. So far as circumstantial evidence is concerned, ‘Motive’ is very important in this regard and it is extremely important for the prosecution to prove the ‘Motive’ in the case of circumstantial evidence. 40. In the present case, the prosecution has given the reason that the accused hatched a conspiracy to extract a ransom of thirty lakh rupees from the parents of the deceased and to execute that conspiracy, they kidnapped the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana. When the accused were putting cellotape on the mouth of Donish alias Himanshu Rana, when he started shouting, the accused Hemant strangled the deceased tightly with a towel and the other accused Yashwant Pali killed Donish alias Himanshu Rana by hitting him on the head with a stone and with the aim of destroying the evidence of murder, the body was stuffed in a sack and wrapped in a blanket and thrown in Ghuruva. 24 41. Therefore, now it has to be seen whether the circumstantial evidence and motive have been proved by the prosecution as above? 42. In this regard, Kushal Ram Rana (PW-01) who is the father of the deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, has stated in his judicial statement that he, his wife, his two sons and mother-in-law and father-in-law lived in a house in village Biroda. On the incident date 26.12.2019, his mother-in-law and father-in-law had gone to Raipur for treatment. He, his wife, elder son Monish alias Mayank and younger son Donish alias Himanshu Rana were at home. At around 11:00 am, he bathed both the children and himself, ate food and rested for some time. At around 01:00-01:30 pm, he got a call from Rakse that there was a class on that day, then he went to Rakse for tuition with his elder son Monish alias Mayank. On the same day, at around 02:00 pm, he got a call from Vijay Sahu who works for him that a wooden plank (patni) is required for temple work, then he told him that his wife and younger son Donish alias Himanshu are at home, go to the house and get the wooden plank (patni). After that, at around 03:30 pm, he came to his home in Biroda, at that time his wife Dameshwari and younger son Donish alias Himanshu were at home. At the same time, Hemant Pali had taken his son Donish with him. At around 4:00 pm, when the cattle came to his house, he fed them and gave them water. After some time, at around 5:00 pm, his son Donish came home and left the house with a badminton racket and 25 shuttle. After that, he went to village Rakse, where he had left his elder son Monish Rana. While going, he saw Komal Pali sitting alone near the community hall of the village. 43. This witness also says that, at about 07:00 PM his wife Dameshwari called him and told him that Donish alias Himanshu has not yet come home, then he told his wife to check if he would be nearby. After that his wife called again and told that Donish alias Himanshu had not come home yet, then he left his elder son there and came to his home in Bidhora. After reaching the village, he searched for Donish alias Himanshu in the nearby areas but could not find him. Then he took his neighbour Kenwara Bai to Dadariya’s house in Bazarpara of the village where Bhagavat was being held, he searched there but could not find Donish alias Himanshu there as well, then he returned home. After some time, Ganesh Pali's wife brought Himanshu's badminton from her house along with her younger son Chetan and gave it to him at home. 44. This witness also says that he searched for Donish alias Himanshu at his friends' house in the neighbourhood but still could not find him. After that he called his brothers and father- mother and told them that Donish alias Himanshu has gone somewhere and he is not to be found. They told him to lodge a report in the police station, then he lodged a report of Donish alias Himanshu's disappearance in Sahaspur Lohara police station. The First Information Report is Ex.P.01. The police came to the village for investigation, in front of him the site map of the incident 26 Ex.P.02 was prepared. He gave the badminton racket to the police, which Ganesh Pali's wife had brought to his house, the police confiscated the badminton racket from him as per the seizure sheet Ex.P.03. 45. This witness has further stated that they were continuously looking for Donish alias Himanshu, then on 31.01.2020, the police of Sahaspur Lohara police station informed and called him to village Tatawahi, when he went there, there was a crowd of people on the roadside outside the settlement, where his companions Rikhiram Dhurve, Ishwari Patel, Komal Bhuarya and Rameshwar Netam were also present. The police also took the three accused from his village, Yashwant Pali, Komal Pali and Hemant Pali, with them. There the police interrogated Yashwant Pali, Komal Pali and Hemant Pali. Then the accused told that about 40-45 days ago, all three accused together had made a plan that Kushal Rana is a very rich man, their younger son Donish alias Himanshu will be kidnapped and thirty lakh rupees will be demanded as ransom from him. And as per the plan, on 26.12.2019 at about 05:30-06:00, Himanshu who was playing outside the house was lured by Hemant Pali and taken inside the school where Komal Pali and Yashwant Pali were already present. The accused told that they were already present in the school with a jute sack and cellotape. The accused told that they started sticking cellotape on the mouth of Donish alias Himanshu, when Donish alias Himanshu started screaming, then Komal Pali, who 27 had put a towel around her neck, tightly strangled Donish alias Himanshu with it and at the same time, Yashwant Pali killed Donish alias Himanshu by hitting him on the head with a nearby stone. 46. This witness also stated that the accused had told that after that Komal Pali went to bring his motorcycle from his house and Yashwant Pali brought a blanket from his house. Thereafter, they put the dead body of Donish alias Himanshu in a sack and covered it with a blanket and went through the Gharsa road of Biroda and crossed the canal from Bhibhori and buried the dead body in Mohan Patel's Ghuruwa in a deserted place in village Tatawahi. The accused showed the place where they had buried the dead body of Donish alias Himanshu. At some distance from there, the shirt, vest, pants, underwear and red coloured thread worn by Donish alias Himanshu at the time of the incident were found. The police made him identify it and he told that all the above mentioned things belonged to Himanshu. On which the police prepared the identification panchnama Ex.P. 04 in front of him. Clothes, sack, bedsheet and towel which Komal Pali always kept with him were also recovered near the place of incident. The blanket with which accused Yashwant Pali used to sit near his house was also found near the crime scene and was confiscated by the police. The police had recovered a jute sack from the crime scene and a shirt button was also recovered from it. The police had searched the area around the crime scene, in which many 28 remains of bones were found, which were recovered and seized by the police. The police had done the panchnama and seizure proceedings on the spot. The police had given notice Ex.P. 05 to do the panchnama of the remains of bones recovered from Himanshu. In front of him, the police had done the panchnama of the remains of bones recovered from Himanshu, Panchnama of the remains of bones was prepared Ex.P. 06. This witness also stated that later after taking his consent his blood sample was collected by the Doctor for DNA matching of deceased Donish alias Himanshu. Later the Ajaak police station gave him notice Ex.P.12 to give a statement. In his cross-examination, all the positive suggestions have been rejected. 47. The statement of Kushal Ram Rana (PW-1) has been fully corroborated by the evidence of Dameshwari Rana (PW-4), mother of deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana. 48. Komal Kumar Bhuarya (PW 06), a witness to the memorandum and the seizure proceedings, has stated that he has an electronic shop in village Bidora Chowk. On 31.01.2020, he opened the shop at around 09:00 am and was sitting with Rameshwar Netam in the shop. At around 09:30 am, the police of Sahaspur Lohara came and gave a notice Ex.P.18 to him and Rameshwar. It was written in the notice that the accused Yashwant, Komal Pali and Hemant Pali have to be questioned, they will appear as witnesses in Sahaspur Lohara police station. He and Rameshwar closed the shop and immediately reached Sahaspur Lohara police station. 29 The accused Yashwant Pali, Komal Pali and Hemant Pali were sitting in the police station. The SHO interrogated all three separately. 49. This witness further stated that, first of all Yashwant Pali was questioned in front of him and Rameshwar, then Yashwant Pali told that, about 40-45 days ago, he along with Komal and Hemant had planned that Kushal Rana is a rich man, his younger son Donish alias Himanshu Rana will be kidnapped and ransom of Rs.30 lakh will be collected. Yashwant told that as per the plan, they were checking the time, when on 26.12.2019 at around 05:30 pm Himanshu was playing, according to the planning, Yashwant Pali and Komal Pali went inside the school and sat down. Yashwant Pali had told that he called Hemant Pali and told him that Himanshu alias Donish Rana is playing, catch him and lure him inside. Then Hemant Pali brought Donish alias Himanshu Rana inside the school, where Yashwant and Komal were already sitting. Yashwant had told that after that he and Komal put tape to close the mouth of Donish alias Himanshu, then Himanshu started screaming, then Koshal Pali strangled Himanshu with a towel and Yashwant Pali killed Donish alias Himanshu Rana by hitting him on the head with a piece of stone, due to which the child died. 50. This witness also says that after that Hemant Pali was standing outside the school to keep watch. Yashwant Pali told that he brought a blanket and a jute sack from his house, they put the child inside the sack and tied it, after that Komal Pali brought a 30 motorcycle from his house. They took the child on the motorcycle from Bidora via Gharsa Road to Lakhatola, from Lakhatola via Kabhi Marg, from Dhangaon Pendritarai Basti, on the Tatawahi road, buried the body of Himanshu alias Donish Rana in a Ghurva. Yashwant Pali told the above things during police interrogation and said, "Come, he will show the said place and give them the stone with which Donish alias Himanshu Rana was killed." The police interrogated Yashwant Pali and prepared his memorandum statement Ex.P. 19. 51. This witness further stated that when the police interrogated Komal, then Komal Pali told the same thing to the police in front of him and Rameshwar which Yashwant Pali had told the police and said that "he will show that place and give the motorcycle." Komal's memorandum statement is Ex.P. 20. Thereafter when Hemant Pali was interrogated, then Hemant Pali also told about the incident as told by Yashwant and said that "he will show the place of incident and get Himanshu alias Donish Rana's shuttle cock recovered." Thereafter the police interrogated Hemant Pali had prepared the memorandum statement Ex.P. 21. 52. This witness further states that, thereafter, the three accused took them to the school in Bidora and showed the place where the incident took place. Yashwant Pali picked up the stone with which Himanshu alias Donish Rana was hit and gave it to the police. The police seized that stone from Yashwant and prepared seizure sheet Ex.P.22. Hemant Pali brought out a shuttle cock for playing 31 badminton from the roof of the school and gave it to them. The police seized a shuttle cock from Hemant and prepared seizure sheet Ex.P. 23. The accused took them to Ghurwa in Tatawahi through the same route, where Yashwant Pali found a blanket which had knots and was torn and paddy straw was stuck to the blanket and it had blood-like stains on it. The police seized it from Yashwant Pali and prepared seizure memo Ex.P.24. 53. This witness further stated that, thereafter Komal Pali given the police personnel a jute sack containing a towel, human hair and a black coloured button and all the items having blood like stains on them, which the police seized from Komal and prepared seizure sheet Ex.P. 25. The police seized cellotape from Hemant Pali and prepared seizure sheet Ex.P. 26. The police seized a pant, a shirt, a vest and an underwear of Himanshu alias Donish Rana from near the place of incident and prepared seizure sheet Ex.P. 27. Kushal Rana had said that these pants, shirt, vest and underwear belonged to Himanshu alias Donish Rana and prepared identification panchnama Ex.P. 04, which was recovered and recovery panchnama Ex.P. 35 was prepared. 54. Witness Komal Kumar Bhuarya (PW 6) further stated that, when the police searched near Ghuruva of Tatawahi, a lot of bone pieces were found there, which were collected and search panchanama Ex.P. 28 was prepared. After taking action from the scene of incident, Komal Pali got a motorcycle seized from his house as per seizure memo Ex.P.29. When Yashwant Pali 32 presented his blue coloured shirt at Tatawahi Ghuruva, the police seized it as per seizure memo Ex.P. 30. One button of that shirt was broken, which Yashwant Pali had said was his. After that, the police prepared the site inspection panchnama Ex.P. 31 and prepared the site map Ex.P. 32. Later, the patwari also prepared the site map Ex.P. 13 and Ex.P. 14. The police took him and Rameshwar to Ghuruwa of Tatawahi, along with him Rameshwar and some people from the village were also went there, from where they took out bones, teeth and hair and prepared search panchanama Ex.P.33 and after seizing bones, pieces of teeth and bunch of hair, prepared seizure sheet Ex.P.34. The police interrogated him and recorded his statement. This witness has denied all the positive suggestions in his cross-examination. 55. The statement of Komal Kumar Bhuarya (PW 06) has been fully corroborated by the evidence of Rameshwar Netam (PW-11), who is another witness of seizure and memorandum. 56. It is true that as per the provisions of Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the confession of a crime made by the accused in his memorandum in police custody is not admissible in evidence, but under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, when any fact is testified to as having been discovered as a result of information received from a person, accused of a crime who is in the custody of a police officer, then so much of such information, whether it amounts to a confession 33 or not, as is clearly related to the fact discovered thereby, may be proved. 57. In the case under question, the fact of seizure of the items mentioned in seizure memo Exs.P- 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 and 30 on the basis of the memorandum statement of the accused and their identification is admissible in evidence. Therefore, the seizures made on the basis of the said memorandum are found to be certified. 58. Investigating officer Mukesh Yadav (PW 15) has stated in his statement that during the investigation, the seized property in the case was handed over to the storeroom clerk for safekeeping in the storeroom. This fact is supported by the storeroom clerk Mohrir Mahesh Verma (PW13). Investigating officer Mukesh Yadav (PW 15) has further stated in his statement that during the investigation, in a sealed packet 05 bone pieces, one tooth piece and two bunches of human like hair, blood sample of Kushal Rana in a sealed tube and blood sample of Dameshwari Rana in another sealed tube were sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory, DNA Unit, Raipur for DNA testing vide Ex.P. 67 of the Superintendent of Police, whose exhibit receipt is Ex.P. 68. 59. In the case, the piece of stone Article-A seized from place of incident on 31.10.2020, blanket Article-B seized from accused Yashwant Pali on 31.10.2020 is marked as, Sack Article-C1, towel Article-C2 which was seized from accused Komal Pali and cellotape Article-D which was seized from accused Heman alias 34 Hemant Pali on 31.01.2020, half jeans pant, shirt, vest, underwear of deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana seized from the scene of incident Articles E1, E2, E3, E4 respectively. According to FSL report Ex.P.65, blood has been found in Articles - A, B, C1, C2, E1, E2 and E3. 60. It is also an important fact in the case that a blue coloured full sleeve shirt of accused Yashwant Pali, Article-F, which has been as per memorandum statement Ex.P-19 of Yashwant Pali vide Ex.P-30, its button and a jute sack seized on the pointing out of accused Komal Pali alias Chhotu which had a black coloured button in it, has been seized as per Ex.P-25, both the said buttons, the button attached to Article-F and the button found in the sack have been found to same as per FSL report Ex.P. 66. 61. As per FSL report Ex.P. 69, DNA profile obtained from Article-H of bone fragments seized from near the scene of incident, Article-J of mother of the deceased Dameshwari Rana and Article-B of father Kushal Ram Rana are the same as those found in the DNA profile obtained from blood sample of the deceased, i.e., the alleles of each marker in the seizure are same. Thus, Article-J and I were found to be the biological parents of the bone Article-H seized as per Ex.P-24 from near Ghuruva pit. 62. According to FSL report Ex.P. 70, on the basis of memorandum statement of accused Komal Pali, a towel was seized as per Ex.P. 25 at his pointing out. The alleles found at each marker in the FSL report of the said towel Article-C (1626 C2) and the DNA 35 profile obtained from the half pant Article-E, which belongs to deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana, the DNA profiles obtained from the blood samples of the deceased's father Kushal Ram Rana and mother Dameshwari Rana Article-K and Article-L respectively were found to be the same, i.e., Article-C (1626 C2) and E were found to be the biological children of Articles-K and L, i.e., the DNA profile found in the towel and the DNA profile found in the half pant of deceased Donish alias Himanshu match with the DNA profiles of the parents of deceased Donish alias Himanshu. 63. The above facts could not be denied by the accused, from which it is clear that the person whose bone was found near Ghuruva pit and the towel seized on the identification of the accused, the DNA of the hair found on it, is matching with the DNA of Kushal Ram Rana and Dameshwari Rana, who are the parents of Donish alias Himanshu Rana. 64. As far as the question of causing the murder of Donish alias Himanshu is concerned, it is also clear from the above evidence in this regard that on the basis of memorandum statements of the accused, Ex.P. 19, 20, 21 respectively, the properties seized from the concerned Ghuruwa pit and its surroundings on their identification, whose FSL and DNA have been conducted by the concerned Investigation Officer and it has come out clearly on the FSL and DNA report that the properties seized on the identification of the accused have blood stains on them and it has 36 also become clear from the DNA profile that the button of the tehra (blue) colour shirt seized from accused Yashwant on his identification was found in the sack seized on the identification of the accused. Apart from this, as per the prosecution witnesses Kushal Ram Rana (PW 01) and Dameshwari Rana (PW-4) they have always seen accused Komal Pali wearing that towel around his neck which was seized from the place of incident Ghuruwa pit on the identification of accused Komal, which is a strong evidence. Besides, the blanket seized from accused Yashwant Pali at his pointing out on which blood stains were found, was also always identified by both the witnesses as belonging to accused Yashwant and being used by him, which is also a strong piece of evidence. 65. As per Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act- Burden of proving fact specially known - When a fact is specially known to any person, the burden of proving that fact lies on that person. Blood was found on the properties seized from the accused on their pointing. How did it come? The accused did not give any such suggestion at the time of accusation, during the statement of accusation and during the examination of witnesses so that it can be clarified as to how human blood came on those properties. Therefore, under Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act, if the accused do not give any explanation, a presumption will be drawn against them. 66. Prosecution witness Komal Kumar Murthy (PW 06) has clearly 37 stated in his statement that the police had recovered a pant, a shirt, a vest which had blood like stains and an underwear from near the incident spot and prepared recovery panchnama Ex.P. 33 and the said properties were seized and seizure memo Ex.P. 27 was prepared, which was identified by Kushal Ram Rana (PW 01), these clothes belong to Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, whose identification Panchnama Ex.P.04 was prepared. Similar statement has been made by another witness Rameshwar Netam (PW 11) examined on behalf of prosecution in his statement. The said statement of both these witnesses has been completely unbroken in cross-examination and the evidence of these witnesses has also been supported by the Investigating Officer of the case, Inspector Mukesh Yadav (PW 15) in their respective statements. Kushal Ram Rana (PW 01), father of Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, has also supported the said fact in his judicial statement and said that the pants, shirt, vest and underwear recovered from the place of incident Ghuruwa Gadda were seized by the police and he had got the said properties identified by him, and he had identified that the said clothes belonged to his son Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana. This witness has also clarified that a red coloured thread was also found, which was identified as per identification panchnama Ex.P. 04. The above statement of this witness has also remained completely unbroken in cross-examination. 67. In the missing report Ex.P.74 which was written on the incident 38 date 26.12.2019 at 23:30, the complainant Kushal Ram Rana (PW-1) has stated that the child is wearing a red colour half shirt and sky blue colour half jeans pant and properties which were found near Ghuruva pit as seized as per seizure memo Ex.P.27 and recovery panchnama Ex.P. 35 also contain a red colour half shirt and sky blue colour half pant, thus it is clear that the clothes of child which were recovered from the Ghuruva pit are the clothes of deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana. 68. Now, the question arises whether on the date of the incident, accused Hemant Pali also brought Donish alias Himanshu's badminton? In this regard, witness Kushal Ram Rana (PW01) has clearly stated in his statement that on the date of the incident, when he received a call from his wife that Donish Kumar alias Himanshu is not at home and is not to be found anywhere, he reached home and inquired about Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana, but he was not found, then he returned home. After some time, Ganesh Pali's wife came to his house with her younger son Chetan Pali and brought Himanshu's badminton. The same has been stated by witness Dameshwari Bai (PW 04) in her statement. The statements of these witnesses are completely unbroken in cross-examination. No explanation has been presented by the accused during the investigation, in the statement of the accused or in the defence as to how the said 39 badminton came to Ganesh Pali's wife and Heman alias Hemant Pali's mother. This fact will also be treated against the accused. 69. Khemu Nishad (PW 07), who is a resident of village Bidora, has stated in his statement that he sells chicken in the weekly market. About three years ago (statement dated 12.07.2022) there was a solar eclipse on Thursday. He had gone to Bhimbhori market to sell chicken. Due to bad weather and the market ending early, he was returning home early in the evening on his motorcycle. He had reached near the kutcha road canal culvert coming from Lakhatola Basti Patel Para, when he saw that Komal Pali, Yashwant Pali and Hemant Pali of the village were going fast towards Dhangaon road on a motorcycle. Komal was driving the motorcycle. Yashwant and Hemant Pali were sitting behind him. Yashwant Pali had kept some goods tied in a blanket. When he called out to them, they did not stop, then he crossed the canal and went to his house in Bidora. No logical refutation of the above statements in the main examination could be made in his cross examination. Hence, there is no reason to disbelieve the said evidence. 70. Another witness of this incident Mohd. Irfa alias Kaju (PW 08) has not supported the prosecution. The prosecution has declared this witness as hostile and when this witness was asked for an indication in the form of cross-examination, this witness said that he was standing alone near the temple of village Tatavahi at 6:45 on the date of the incident. This witness also said that three 40 people had gone on a motorcycle, then the witness said that he called out to the motorcyclist due to bad weather, he thought that if they were known to him, they would stop. The above admission of this witness confirms the fact that Khemu Nishad saw the accused going fast towards Dhangaon road with the corpse of Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana hidden in a blanket on a motorcycle. Hence, in such a situation, this circumstance is also found to be fully proved against the accused. 71. If we look at the call details of two mobile numbers, i.e. 6266960220 seized from accused Yashwant Pali and 9399670168 seized from accused Chetan Pali, for which CDR, CAF and certificate of 65-B has also been attached with the record, it is clear that four calls were made on these two numbers one day before the incident and on the date of the incident at the time of the incident, i.e., these two accused were in contact with each other while conspiring and committing the crime. It is also clear from the witnesses presented by the prosecution that the three accused together conspired to commit the crime and executed it. When the deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana screamed after cellotape was put on his mouth, he was strangulated with a towel and hit on the head with a stone and killed. Blood stains have also been found on the seized clothes of the deceased Donish Kumar alias Himanshu Rana. 72. It is clear from the aforesaid evidence analysis that the chain of circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution has been 41 proved by the prosecution in a logical manner by relevant and conclusive evidence and this chain of circumstantial evidence is connected with each other in such a way that from this chain of circumstantial evidence it is revealed that only the accused had kidnapped the minor Donish alias Himanshu Rana from the guardianship of his legal guardian without the consent of the guardian and had hatched a criminal conspiracy to extort ransom and had intentionally murdered the deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana and not by anyone else and destroyed the evidence by burying the body of Donish alias Himanshu Rana in Ghuruva of village Tatavahi Basti and further it is proved that the accused had committed the above offence knowing that deceased Donish alias Himanshu Rana belongs to the Scheduled Tribe category. 73. From the above analysis, we are of the considered opinion that the prosecution has been successful in proving its case beyond reasonable doubt and the learned trial Court has not committed any legal or factual error in arriving at the finding with regard to the guilt of the appellants. 74. Accordingly, the appeal being devoid of merit is liable to be and is hereby dismissed. 75. The accused / appellants are stated to be in jail. They shall serve out the sentence awarded by the trial Court by means of the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 26.06.2024. 76. Registry is directed to send a certified copy of this judgment along 42 with the original record of the case to the trial court concerned forthwith for necessary information and compliance and also send a copy of this judgment to the concerned Superintendent of Jail where the appellants are undergoing their jail sentence to serve the same on the appellants informing them that they are at liberty to assail the present judgment passed by this Court by preferring an appeal before the Hon’ble Supreme Court with the assistance of High Court Legal Services Committee or the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Sd/- (Arvind Kumar Verma) (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Judge Sd/- Chandra