JUDGMENT

Y.K. Sabharwal, J.-Subash Chandra Panda (A1), Kunja Ramana (A2), Narayan Mazumdar (A3) and Kalpana Mazumdar (A4), the appellants before us, are facing death penalty. The charge against them is of kidnapping and murder of a child Ranjeet Mohanty @ Rana, aged four years. They were charged for offences under Sections 364, 302 and 201 read with 34 IPC.

2. The First Information Report was registered at the instance of Chitranjan Mohanty, PW7. He reported that the four appellants and Simanchal Padhi had kidnapped his nephew on 30th April, 1997 and subsequently killed him. According to the FIR on 1st May, 1997 in the early morning while he had gone out to attend the call of nature he observed that a person was bringing something on his shoulders and he came towards the pond. The person was A3, PW7 caught him and an alarm was raised. People gathered there. Same are named in the FIR. They found that A3 was carrying the dead body of the deceased and on being asked he said that he has not murdered the child alone but some other persons were also involved in the murder and he can identify them. He took all the persons to the house of A2 who finding A3 and others threatened to assau