JUDGMENT

S.B. Sinha, J.—Appellants five in number were proceeded against and convicted for commission of an offence of murder of one Shivnandan Prasad at about 07.00 a.m. on 13.12.1999. The parties are residents of the same village.

2. On 13.12.1999 at about 06.30 a.m., the deceased was milking a buffalo. His other family members including the wife of his brother (informant Krishna Deo Prasad-PW-7), nephew Sunil Prasad and others were brushing their teeth at the roof of their house. Brijnandan Prasad and others have their joint residential house at some distance from the house of the deceased. They allegedly came over the roof of their house armed with rifles and started brick-batting and abusing the brother of the informant alleging that they had burnt a heap of straw belonging to them. When Shivnandan Prasad went to the roof of the house, allegedly the appellants started firing. One of the bullets hit Shivnandan Prasad on his chest. An alarm was raised. The first informant reached near his brother and found him dead. A First Information Report was lodged at about 10.00 a.m. on the same day before Chandi Police Station. The distance between the place of occurrence and the C