Aftab Alam, J

1. There are fourteen appellants before this Court. Each of them was convicted by the trial court under sections 302/34 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and five years respectively for committing murder and for causing disappearance of evidence by carrying away the body of their victim. The two sentences were directed to run concurrently.

2. The case against the appellants was instituted on the basis of a written report (Ext. 1) handed over to the Officer Incharge of Danapur P.S. at 10 A.M. on 22.8.1980 by one Rajnath Singh (informant PW 3). In the written report it was stated that on the previous day (21.8.1980) at about 4 in the afternoon the informant alongwith his brother Baijnath Singh (the deceased) was at their plot of land situated by the side of the Dhab (Dhab is the local word for a large pool of water formed as a result of a sand bar or a land coming out due to the alluvial action of the river separating it from the man stream river) in the north of their village Dudhiyan. They had gone there for cutting some Masuriya crops (cattle fodder) grown on the piece of land, They had been on their land for a little while when the fourteen appellants arrived there variously armed; two of the appellants were carrying country made pistols while the rest were armed with spears, Garansas and lathies. Threatening them with their arms the accused forcibly took them on a boat to the Dhab and (on reaching there) let the boat move freely. After the boat had proceeded to a little distance, all the accused started assaulting Baijnath Singh with their respective weapons. At this point the informant found an opportunity and he jumped from the boat into the water and started swimming towards the higher grounds, shouting and crying for help. The accused tried to hit him also but be was able to escape. His brother died as a result of the assault and the accused carried away his body on their boat. It was also said in the report that the occurrence was seen by some other villages, namely, Satyanand Singh (PW 1), Kameshwar Singh (PW 2) and Panchanand Singh (PW 5). It was further stated that due to night fall and the flood conditions the report was being made in the following morning.

3. Coming next to the cause of the occurrence the written report said that Baijnath Singh had a piece of land near the house of the accused and they repeatedly used to pluck the maize and cut away the Masuriya crop grown on that land. For this, quarrels had taken place between Baijnath Singh and the accused a number of times. Prior to the occurrence Baijnath Singh had caught the accused cutting away his Masuriya crop and he had abused and roughed them up on that occasion. The accused who belonged to one family had formed a gang of criminals in the village and they indulged in commission of theft and dacoity etc. They killed Baijnath Singh in retaliation of that incident.

4. The written report was signed by the informant Rajnath Singh from before but at the time of taking it from him the Officer Incharge made him put another signature on it. On accepting the written report the Officer Incharge made an endorsement on it indicating the registration of the case and its investigation being assigned to S.I., Laxman Prasad. The endorsement was identified by him in court and it was then marked as Ext. 3.

5. The written report submitted by Rajnath Singh was incorporated in a formal FIR on which too the Officer Incharge, Danapur P.S. put his signature. The formal F.I.R. was marked as Ext. 5 and his signature on it as Ext. 4.

6. Before proceeding further it will be useful to have some idea about the place where the occurrence took place, the manner in which the matter was reported to the police and the way the police investigation was made in the case. The place of occurrence is a plot of land belonging to the informant and his deceased brother Bainjath Singh situated in the north of their village Dudh