Bahadur, J.

1. This Government Appeal, under Sec. 417 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is against an order of acquittal passed by a First Class Magistrate of Baghmara, in the district of Dhanbad. Three of the respondents, namely, respondents 1 to 3, were tried on charges under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code and the fourth respondent namely, respondent No. 4, was tried on charge under Section 411 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. The prosecution case, in substance, is that Mangilal Agarwalla (P. W. 5), the informant, has a wholesale cloth shop at Panchgarhi Bazar, within Police Station Katras, located in the house of respondent No. 1, on rent. On the night of the 13th and the 14th June 1962, when his shop was locked and was unattended to by his family members, a theft was committed by breaking open the locks of the shop. Mangilal Agarwalla learnt about the theft when he came to the shop next morning, on the 14th June 1962, and discovered that huge quantity of cloths worth about Rs. 8,000 was missing. He went to the Police Station, but as the Officer-in-charge was not present there, he informed about it to the constable who was on duty. It appears that the Junior