Confessions constitute admissible evidence under Section 27 of the Evidence Act if they lead to recovery of incriminating materials, establishing the offenders' knowledge and intent in a murder linked to personal motive.

JUDGMENT :

Rajasekhar Mantha, J.

1. These appeals are directed against the judgment and order of conviction dated21st December, 2016 and 22nd December, 2016 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge 3rd Court in Malda in Sessions Trial no. 08 of 2012 arising out of Sessions Case no. 298 of 2011. The appellants were convicted under Section 302 read with Section 34 of IPC along with Section 4(a) of The Explosive Substance Act.

FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The prosecution case in brief is that the victim, Aparna Biswas, a teacher at Malda Ramkinkar Balika Vidyashram, was also a tenant in the house of Sitanshu Das (PW 3) at Malanchapally English Bazar, Malda. Her rented room was situated on the ground floor of the house.

3. On the 24th of April, 2011 when the victim was not at home, a courier (PW6) delivered a parcel to her residence. The said parcel was received by the daughter of the landlord Sonam Das (PW 2) at 11 am.

4. The courier stated that he was an employee of Nightingale Courier Service. After the victim returned home, she received the parcel from PW 2 and took it into her room.

5. The neighbours thereafter heard a loud explosion from the ground floor of the house of PW 3. He then rushed to the room of the victim with his wife (PW 4), daughter (PW 2) and neighbours and found the victim unconscious and bleeding heavily. The lower part of her body was completely charred, and the room was filled with smoke. There was a smell of explosive substance and pins, blood stains and pieces of paper were strewed all over the floor and walls of the room. The cot was broken as well. The victim was immediately taken to the Malda District Hospital by the said persons, where she was declared dead.

6. A complaint was lodged on the same day, at about 2:45 PM, by the father of the victim (PW 1), in the English Bazar Police Station. FIR No. 240 of 2011 dated 24th April, 2011 was registered under section 302 read with section 34 of the IPC and sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substance Act, 1908. Appellant no. 1 Prince Ghosh was named as an accused. Prior thereto however the police had registered a UD case.

7. The investigating officer (PW 29) started investigation. He visited the place of occurrence and seized pieces of paper, some of which were blood-stained, pieces of blood-stained cloth, part of torn plastic table cloth, the blood-stained wooden part of a broken cot, one blood-stained white blanket, some pins and some skin with flesh collected from the side wall and some particles from the smoke-stained wall and some blood from the floor, a burnt wire, a switch, a part of a battery with the writing AKARI, lying on the floor, a piece of wearing apparel and a black Nokia mobile phone.

8. The Malda police conducted inquest on the victim at the district hospital on the next day. Several injuries associated with the explosion were found on the body of the victim broken pieces of wood pins. The body was thereafter sent for postmortem.

9. Upon making enquiries the police started to search for the appellant they were not found in the respective place of residence. They were found together at a fresh place in Sujapur and arrested. The mobile phones of the appellants were seized by the police under a seizure list.

10. After being apprehended the appellants recorded confessional statement under Section 27 of the Evidence Act. They voluntarily confessed to the investigating officer, the place where they stored the said bomb-making material and prepared the bomb and also offered to surrender the same. The exact words used by the appellants in Bengali vernacular were duly re