The appellant, who has been tried and convicted under Section 302 IPC and sen­tenced to suffer imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.5000/- i.d. to further undergo imprisonment for two years, vide judgment dated 2.12.2002 in ST. 69(NT/D) of 2001, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, North Tripura, Dharmanagar, has preferred this appeal for setting aside the said judgment and order with a prayer for acquit­tal.

2. That on 13.6.2001, one Pabitra Malakar(P.W1) lodged an information with the Officer In-charge, Panisagar P.S. Dharmanagar alleging, inter alia, that on 12.6.2001 at about 9 a.m., the accused Madan Malakar along with Nagendra Malakar (since deceased), resident of Barabari, went to Shimul Tilla near a rubber garden to collect wood and later on, at 2.00 p.m, the informant received an information from a person that Nagandra Malakar was lying unconscious beside the road of planta­tion (bagan). Thereafter, his son Nakul Malakar and the informant brought Nagendra Malakar to Jalebasa Primary Health Centre by an auto and subsequently, from there, Nagendra was brought to Dharmanagar hos­pital at the advice of doctor of the said pri­mary hospital, where he was undergoing treat­ment. In the said FIR. it is also stated that till the date of lodging FIR, whereabouts of Madan Malakar,(the appellant herein) could not be ascertained.

3. On receipt of the aforesaid information, Panisagar P.S registered a police case being PNS P.S case No. 26/01 under Section 326 IPC and started investigation. When the in­vestigation was going on, the deceased Nagendra succumbed to the injuries on 13.6.2001 and thereafter, the investigating authority added Section 302 IPC and pro­ceeded for further investigation. On comple­tion of the investigation, Sri Padma Sen Chakma, I.O. of the case filed the charge sheet under Section 302 IPC against accused Madan. As the offence involved in the case was cognizable and triable by the Court of Sessions, the learned Magistrate committed the case to the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, North Tripura, Dharmanagar.

4. Having found a prima facie case, the learned Additional Sessions Judge framed the charge against the accused appellant under Section 302 of the IPC to which the accused appellant pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

5. To bring home the guilt of the accused appellant, the prosecution examined as many as 17 witnesses including the official witnesses, namely, Sri Pabitra Malakar, the informant, (P.W 1), Sri Sushendra Malakar,(P.W 2), a day labour who is known to both the infor­mant and the victim, Sri Ranjan Malakar, (P. W 3 ), who also knows the informant and the victim, Sri Aranya Malakar (P.W 4), who knows the informant and victim, but knows nothing about the incident. Sri Manindra Malakar (P.W 5), who rushed to the place of occurrence and brought the victim to the hos­pital for treatment, Sri Paresh Nath (P.W 6), who went to the hospital to see the victim and a seizure witness, Sri Ramesh Ch. Sutradhar(P. W 7) who is also a seizure wit­ness, Sri Abinash Das (P.W 8), an witness to see the victim and the accused last time to­gether and also a seizure witness, Dr. Hirak Chowdhury (P.W 9), a Medical Officer of Jalebasa Primary Health Center who referred the victim to Dharmanagar Sub-Divisional Hospital after giving the victim first aid, Smti Laxmi Malakar, (P.W 10),who knows the victim and has seen the accused going to his house through the sty of her house, Sri Lani Malakar, (P.W 11) who has been tendered by the prosecution, Sri Sushendra Malakar (P.W. 12), who while returning with his cows from Shimultilla area at about 11 -30 heard the sound of groaning of the victim and went to the place of occurrence thereafter and intimated the same to the people nearby, HC Keshab Deb (P.W 13) is the Head Constable at the Panisagar Police Station who escorted the dead body till post mortem examination is over, Mr. Pradhyut Ch. Dutta, (P.W 14), the Officer In-charge of Panisagar Po