IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 26.02.2008 CORAM: THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE D. MURUGESAN AND THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. PERIYA KARUPPIAH R.T.No.3 of 2007 and Crl.A.Nos.607, 613 & 653 of 2007 Rajan (A1) .. Prisoner Trial referred by the learned Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamalai for confirmation of the sentence of death passed upon the said prisoner in S.C.No.1 of 1993. Sekar (A5) .. Appellant in Crl.A.607/2007 Mohan (A4) .. Appellant in Crl.A.613/2007 Rajan (A1) .. Appellant in Crl.A.653/2007 vs. State rep. By Inspector of Police CBCID (Crime) Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvannamalai District .. Respondent Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Appeals under Section 374(2) of Cr.P.C. against the judgment dated 25.1.2007 in S.C.No.1 of 1993 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamalai. For Appellant in Crl.A.No.607 of 2007 : Mr. G. Pugazhendi For Appellant in Crl.A.No.613 of 2007 : Mr. R. Sankara Subbu For Appellant in Crl.A.No.653 of 2007 : Mr. V. Gopinath Senior Counsel Mr.L. Mahendran For Respondent : Mr. P. Kumaresan Addl. Public Prosecutor and Mr.V.T.Gopalan, Addl. Solicitor General assisted by Mr.P.Wilson, https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Asst. Solicitor General of India. and Mr.G.Masilamani, Advocate General assisted by Mr.K.Vijayakumar J U D G M E N T V. PERIYA KARUPPIAH, J. The reference in R.T.No.3 of 2007 is by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamalai seeking confirmation of the death sentence imposed on A1 in S.C.No.1 of 1993 dated 25.6.2007. 2. Crl.A.Nos.607 of 2007, 613 of 2007 and 653 of 2007 are filed by Accused Nos.5, 4 & 1 in S.C.No.1 of 1993 respectively challenging the conviction and sentence passed against them. 3. A criminal miscellaneous petition in M.P.No.2 of 2007 is filed by A1/Appellant in C.A.No.653 of 2007 seeking permission to raise additional grounds. 4. In the Sessions Case, totally 12 accused were charge sheeted and the case against A2, A3 and A8 was split up in S.C.No.58 of 1997. Similarly, the case against A9 to A11 was split up even at the preliminary case stage and assigned with P.R.C.No.8 of 1989. The case against A7 and A12 stand abated, since they died during the pendency of the case before the trial Court. The remaining accused A1, A4, A5 and A6 were tried by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamalai in S.C.No.1 of 1993 after framing charges against A1 under Sections 120-B, 395, 353, 506(ii) and under Section 302 (3 counts) and 307(4 counts) I.P.C. and under Section 3 r/w 25(1-A) and 27(2)(3) and 28 of the Arms Act; against A4 under Sections 120-B, 419, 450, 395, 353, 506(ii), 302 r/w 149 and 307 r/w 149 I.P.C.; against A5 & A6 under Section 120-B I.P.C. 5. The trial Court convicted A1, A4, A5 and acquitted A6, after holding a full-fledged trial by examining P.Ws.1 to 52 and admitted documentary evidence Exs.P.1 to P.81 and material objects 1 to 57. The defence side also examined D.Ws.1 & 2. After trial, the learned Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamalai had convicted the accused as under: https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Accused Convicted under Sections Sentence A1 395 I.P.C. R.I. for 7 years 302 I.P.C. (3 counts) A combined capital sentence of hanging till death. 307 I.P.C.(4 counts) Life imprisonment on each count. 3 r/w 25(1-A) of the Arms Act Five years R.I. 27(3) of the Arms Act Capital sentence of hanging till death A4 and A5 395 I.P.C. Seven years R.I. each and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/- each, in default to undergo one year R.I. each. 419 I.P.C. One year R.I. each 302 r/w 149 I.P.C. (3 counts) Life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.50,000/- each on each count, in default to undergo five years R.I. each. Section 307 r/w 149 I.P.C. (4 counts) Life imprisonment and to pay a sum of Rs.25,000/- each on each count, in default to undergo three years R.I. each. A6 was not found guilty under Section 120-B I.P.C., and was acquitted. 6. The accused were put on trial on the following allegations: (a) The appellants herein viz., A1, A4, A5 along with nine other accused totalling 12 of them, on 27.7.1998, with an intention to commit the offence of dacoity, had hatched a criminal conspiracy and in pursuance of the said conspiracy, A5 - Sekar arranged a Maruti Omni Van bearing Regn.No.TSI-4550 from one Srinivasan at Chennai and handed over the same to A3 viz., Joseph Sebastian, who took the van, collected A4-Mohan, A8-Daniel, A12-Moorthi at Chennai and proceeded to Echanpatti, Salem District, they collected A9- Chinnanathan and A11-Bavan from the house of one Periyasami, proceeded to Malliyakarai, Salem District to the house of A6- Shanmugam and had then went to the house of A7-Ponnusamy at Panchalai Nagar and thereafter, they collected A1-Rajan, A2-Judu and A10-Periyanathan. On 27.7.1988 at around 20.30 hours all these accused went to Reddiyarpalam and had earmarked the house of the complainant for committing robbery and accordingly, they reached https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ the house of the complainant, posed themselves as Income Tax Officers and looted money by committing robbery to the tune of Rs.21,900/- from the complainant and escaped. (b) In the escaping bid, they proceeded in the Maruti Van to Thandrampet and on hearing the message that the accused persons were fleeing from the scene of crime, Thandrampet Police and public had organised a hurdle on the road by putting benches across the road and at that time, A1 who had the gun with him had fired at the crowd and in the said firing three persons viz., Ramasamy, Ravanan and Panchalai died of bullet injuries and other four persons Jayaraman (P.W.9), Subburayan (P.W.10), Kuppammal (P.W.11) and Anbazhagan (P.W.26) were seriously injured and in the said melee all the accused escaped in the same Maruthi Van and it was later abandoned in a nearby place and the accused had escaped from the scene of crime. 7. The case as spoken by the prosecution witnesses are as follows: (a) P.W.1 is the victim in the offence of robbery committed by the accused. On 27.7.1988 at 7.00 p.m. the husband of P.W.1 viz., Pitchaikara Gounder (since deceased) returned home from his Rice Mill. Thereafter, both P.W.1 and her husband had their food and went for sleep after locking the iron gate. At that time, P.W.1 hearing that someone was calling from outside came and woke up her husband who was sleeping outside the room of P.W.1. When Pitchaikara Gounder opened the door, a person came saying that he is the Income Tax Officer and asked him to sit in a chair, enquired him. One another person stood near the iron gate with a bag, one person stood near the room of P.W.1 with a bag and two other persons was inside the room. Two other persons searched the house and took the cash bag brought by Pitchaikara Gounder from the Rice Mill and then all of them left the place. Thereafter, P.W.1 and her husband came out and shouted. P.W.2, brother of P.W.1, enquired one of the accused inside the Blue Colour Maruti Van as to who are they. For that he replied that the Income Tax Officers are checking the house of Pitchaikara Gounder and he told P.W.2 to ask the person who stood near the iron gate with a gun. He also replied the same. When he was talking with that person, five persons came out of the house of Pitchaikara Gounder and among them one of the person was having a black bag and they boarded the Maruti Van and left. Thereafter, P.W.1 and her husband came out shouting that the accused were taking away their money. Immediately, P.W.2 requested P.W.6 the Messenger of Indian Bank to inform the Police, who in turn informed to Thanipadi Police Station. (b) Prior to the above occurrence, the accused enquired P.W.7 at 5.00 p.m. who was on the way to his house as to who is the rich man in Reddiyarpalayam, who could donate. For that P.W.5 pointed Pitchaikara Gounder. Thereafter, at 8.15 p.m. when P.Ws.3 and 30 were talking in the road while proceeding to Aroor, the accused https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ asked whether Pitchaikara Gounder was available in the house. For that they replied that he had just arrived from the Rice Mill. P.Ws.3 and 30 were talking there for some time. After some time, they came to know that somebody looted the house of Pitchaikara Gounder and left in a van. (c) P.W.39-Sub Inspector of Police on receipt of the information from P.W.6, alerted the police and made arrangement to block the road in order to stop the Maruti Van. A Constable (2151) placed his bike across the road to stop the Van. In spite of that, the Van escaped. P.W.39 then directed the Head Constable and Police Constable-2151 to chase the Van after handing them over a gun and bullets. He also gave information to Thandarampet Police Station that a van was coming towards Thandarampet after looting money at the house of Pitchaikara Gounder at Reddiarpalayam. Thereafter, P.W.39 came to the scene of occurrence, viz., the house of P.W.1 and enquired. At that time, Pitchaikara Gounder preferred a complaint-Ex.P.1 stating that a sum of Rs.22,000/- was robbed off. P.W.39 on the basis of the complaint, registered a case in Cr.No.104 of 1988 for the offence under Section 395 I.P.C and the F.I.R. is Ex.P.47. He sent the complaint and the FIR to the higher officials and to the Court. (d) In the meantime, P.W.40, Head Constable of Thandaram Police Station with the help of Grade-I Constable-2874 and the public gathered near Palaniappan Juice shop viz., P.Ws.9,10,11,14,15 and 26 and others blocked the road by putting benches and chairs across the road. At that time, the van which was coming at a high speed stopped there. When P.W.40 and others attempted to catch them, a person sitting behind the driver opened fire at the crowd. In that firing, one Ramasamy died on the spot. Ravanan, Panchalai, Anbazhagan (P.W.26), Jayaraman (P.W.9), Subbarayan (P.W.10) and Kuppammal (P.W.11) also sustained bullet injuries. Among them Ravanan died on way to the hospital and Panchalai was initially taken to Thiruvannamalai Government Hospital and there she was treated by P.W.34. There, P.W.47 recorded dying declaration-Ex.P.68 from Panchalai. Later she was taken to Vellore Government Hospital for further treatment, where once again, P.W.48 recorded the dying declaration of Panchalai and the same is marked as Ex.P.69. (e) Dr. Sundari, P.W.34 attended on P.W.26, P.W.9, P.W.10 and P.W.11 and issued wound certificates Exs.P.31, 33, 32 & 34 respectively. The bullet injuries sustained by the injured persons are mentioned in their respective wound certificates. She referred P.W.26 and P.W.9 to Stanley Hospital, Chennai. P.W.45 recovered the blood stained shirt-M.O.11 from P.W.26 under Form 95-Ex.P.12. (f) P.W.40 posting some constables at the scene of occurrence came to Thandarampet Police Station and gave his Special Report – Ex.P.48 to the S.I. of Police (P.W.41), who in turn registered a case in Cr.No.131 of 1988 for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ The F.I.R. is marked as Ex.P.49. Thereafter, P.W.41 gave intimation to Sankarapuram Police Station through VHF that some accused are coming in a blue colour Maruti Van No.TSI 4550 after committing robbery. On receipt of the information P.W.44 started checking the vehicles coming towards Thiruvannamalai by halting a tractor across the road. Then the Van bearing Regn.No.4550 came and stopped 100 ft. away and immediately it took backwards. On seeing that the said Van bore the number TSI-4550, P.W.44 Inspector and the S.I. chased the van. But they did not catch it. Thereafter, P.W.45, Circle Inspector of Thiruvannamalai, on intimation, went to Vanapuram. The people available there also confirmed that the said Van was going towards Vanapuram. So P.W.45 went upto Ilayankanni along with party with rifles, but they could not find the van. Therefore, P.W.45 returned to Thanipadi Police Station and took up the case in Cr.No.104 of 1988 for investigation, went to the house of P.W.1 at Reddiyarpalayam, prepared observation mahazar-2, rough sketches- Exs.P.50 & 51 in the presence of P.W.3 and P.W.30. He examined the witnesses viz., P.Ws.1 to 3,5,6,7 & 30 and others and recorded their statements. (g) At 1.00 a.m. on 28.7.1988, P.W.45 went to the place of firing at Thandarampet - Thanipadi Junction Road, held inquest over the body of Ramasamy. The inquest report of Ramasamy is Ex.P.52. He recovered blood stained earth-M.O.3, sample earth-M.O.4, empty bullet catridge – M.O.5 in the presence of P.W.11 and one Pachaiappan under the cover of mahazar Ex.P.8. In the presence of same witnesses, he prepared observation mahazar-Ex.P7 and rough sketches Exs.P.53 and 54. He sent the body of Ramasamy for postmortem along with requisition Ex.P.37 through P.W.43. (h) On receipt of the requisition, P.W.35 Dr. Govindarajulu conducted autopsy on 27.7.1988 at 10.40 p.m. and the postmortem certificate of Ramasamy was marked as Ex.P.38, in which the injuries sustained by the deceased Ramasamy and cause of death were incorporated. P.W.43 handed over the personal apparels (M.Os.18 and 19) of the deceased Ramasamy, after the postmortem, to P.W.45. (i) On 28.7.1988 at 4.15 a.m. P.W.45 went to Ilayankanni, where the Van involved in the case was stationed. He prepared observation mahazar-Ex.P.3 and recovered driving licence of A3- M.O.5 and the road tax receipt-M.O.6 paid for the said vehicle in the presence of P.W.4 and Mariappan under the Mahazar Ex.P.4. At 4.45 a.m., he recovered empty bullet – M.O.12 shot at the tyre to stop the Maruti Van under Ex.P.55. He examined P.W.4 and other witnesses and recorded their statements. (j) On the same day at 6.00 a.m., P.W.45 went to Thiruvannamalai Government Hospital and held inquest over the body of Ravanan in the presence of panchayatars and witnesses. The inquest report of Ravanan is marked as Ex.P.56. He examined the witnesses and recorded their statements then and there. He gave requisition – Ex.P.39 to conduct postmortem on the body of Ravanan https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ through P.W.42 and accordingly, P.W.35, Dr. Govindarajulu conducted postmortem on the body of Ravanan and issued postmortem certificate Ex.P.40, in which the bullet injuries sustained by the deceased Ravanan and the cause of death are incorporated. The personal apparels (M.Os.16 and 17) of the deceased Ravanan produced by P.W.42 after the post mortem were recovered by P.W.45 under Form 95 (Ex.P.59). (k) P.W.45 examined the injured witnesses and recorded their statements. On 29.7.1988, he examined P.W.44 and other official witnesses and recorded their statements. On 30.7.1988 on receipt of information at 8.00 a.m. that the injured Panchalai died in the Vellore Government Hospital, he went there and held inquest over the body of Panchalai in the presence of panchayatars and witnesses and the inquest report is Ex.P.57. He gave requisition Ex.P.41 to conduct postmortem on the body of Panchalai and accordingly, Dr.Kalaiselvi, P.W.36 conducted autopsy on the body of the deceased Panchalai and issued Ex.P.42, in which the bullet injuries sustained by the deceased Panchalai and the cause of death are mentioned. (l) P.W.45 examined P.W.21 and other witnesses. He also recovered M.Os.6 to 8 viz., blood stained dresses of P.W.10 produced by his wife, P.W.19 under Ex.P9; M.O.9-dhoti of P.W.9 produced by P.W.20 under Ex.P.10 and M.O.10-saree of P.W.11 produced by P.W.29 under Ex.P.11. He recovered the pellets (M.Os.13 to 15) removed from the injured witnesses as produced by the doctor under Form 95- Ex.P.58. Thereafter, he sent all the recovered objects to Court and gave requisition Exs.P.20 to 22 to send the same for chemical examination, which was carried out by the Judicial Magistrate, Chengam under Exs.P.23 to 25. The reports received from P.W.33 are marked as Exs.P.28 to P.30. P.W.43 also produced the dresses of the deceased Ravanan, which were recovered by P.W.45 under Form 95- Ex.P.60. On 30.7.1988, he recovered the dresses (M.Os.29 and 21) of the deceased Panchalai under Ex.P.61. Thereafter, P.W.45 handed over the files to P.W.46, the Inspector of Police, Thiruvannamalai. (m) On 3.8.1988, P.W.46 took up the case for further investigation. He arrested A3 in a bus stand in the presence of P.W.25 and one Manimaran. At that time, A3 gave a confession statement and also produced Rs.150/-, the remaining amount from his share of looted money. The said money-M.O.22 is recovered under Ex.P.62. Form 95 prepared to send the recovered money-M.O.22 to Court is Ex.P.63. He examined the doctors and recorded their statements. On 4.8.1988, he examined Srinivasan P.W.22, the owner of the vehicle and recorded his statement. On 5.8.1988, he arrested A4 to A6 at Anusuya Mandapam near Saidapet Bridge. They gave their voluntary confession statements, which were recorded by P.W.46 separately in the presence of P.W.31 and one Balakrishnan. The admissible portion of the confession statement of A4 is marked as Ex.P.66. Pursuant to the said statement, A4 took P.W.46 to P.W.23's house and from him, he handed over his share of looted money https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Rs.5000/- (M.O.23) and the same was recovered under Ex.P.65. He examined P.W.23 and other witnesses and recorded their statements. Then he took the arrested accused to A10's house at Echampatti. There he prepared observation mahazar Ex.P.67 and searched the house and recovered nine letters-Ex.P.70 series, a red colour book- Ex.P.71, an identity card showing A.10 as a Srilankan Refugee, a Rexin bag-M.O.4, a cloth bag-M.O.25, shirt-M.O.26 and a dairy of the year 1988-M.O.27, an identity card of Tamil Elam Liberation Front given to one Kumar-M.O.28, half-sleeve shirt-M.O.29, pant- M.O.30 under Ex.P.73. Then he handed over the material objects to the Judicial Magistrate, Chengam. On 5.8.1988, he searched the house of A6 at Malliakarai, Salem and recovered a rope used for cleaning the gun with metal balls-M.O.31, Indian Passport-M.O.32, white shirt-M.O.33, Airbag – M.O.34 and Identity card of one P.Jagan, N. Shankar and Anandan given by Tamil Eelam Liberation Front (M.Os.35 to 37), black shirt-M.O.38 and an underwear and bed sheet – Ex.P.39 series in the presence of P.W.31 and Balakrishnan under Ex.P.75. He then produced A10 and A4 and the recovered material objects before the Court and also examined P.W.31, Balakrishnan and other witnesses and recorded their statements. On 7.8.1988, he examined some of the witnesses at Echampatti and recorded their statements. On 8.8.1988, he examined P.W.24 and other witnesses and recorded their statements at Athur. He gave requisition-Ex.P.43 to the Judicial Magistrate, Vellore to conduct identification parade of A3 & A4. (n) Accordingly on 17.8.1988 at 3.00 p.m. P.W.37 conducted identification parade of A3 and A4. The proceedings of the identification parade is marked as Ex.P.44. On 10.8.1988, on information, he took P.Ws.27 and 28 to arrest A1 & A2 to Salem. He arrested A1 and A2 who were standing in front of Sundar Lodge in the presence of the above witnesses at 10.30 a.m. At that time both the accused gave their confessional statements, which were recorded by P.W.46. The admissible portion of the confession statement of A1 is Ex.P.76, pursuant to which, he produced a sum of Rs.170/-, (M.O.40 series) the remaining amount from his share of the looted amount, which was recovered under Ex.P.13. A1 had then taken P.W.46 and witnesses to Palaniappa Nagar where he was residing and produced Rs.1,465/- (M.O.41 series) which he had concealed and the same was recovered under Ex.P.14. Then at 2.00 p.m., P.W.46 searched the house of the accused and recovered the empty catridge (M.O.42) concealed under a wooden box. The search list is Ex.P.77. On information at 4.00 p.m., he came to Arur and arrested A7 who was standing in front of passengers waiting hall in the presence of P.Ws.27 and 28. A7 also gave his confession statement and the admissible portion of which is marked as Ex.P.78. Pursuant to the said statement, he took P.W.46 and the witnesses to Panjali Nagar, where he produced an empty catridge-M.O.43 concealed under a haystack and some letters viz., Exs.P.16 to 19, which were recovered under Mahazar Ex.15. P.W.46 searched the house of A7 from 6.00 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the presence of the witnesses and recovered a pair of canvas shoes of Chinnanathan (M.O.44) and the Rexin shoes https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ of A2 (M.O.45), Brown Colour Rexin Bag (M.O.47), a pant of Chinnanathan (M.O.47), Dark Blue Pant (M.O.48), white half-sleeves shirt (M.O.49), light blue shirt (M.O.50), checked Nylon shirt (M.O.51), Full-sleeve shirt (M.O.52), Sandal colour Nylon shirt (M.O.53), a wood (M.O.54), weight lifts six Nos. (M.O.55 series) and 2 Nos. weight lights with cements balls (56 series). The search list is Ex.P.79. Thereafter, P.W.46 examined some of the witnesses and recorded their statements. At 10.00 p.m. on the same day, P.W.46 brought the accused and the recovered properties to Thandaram Police Station. From 13.8.1988 to 16.8.1988, he examined some of the witnesses and recorded their statements. Then he gave requisition to conduct identification parade of A1 and A2 to the Judicial Magistrate, Vellore. Accordingly, P.W.37 conducted identification parade at 3.00 p.m. on 25.8.1988 and the proceedings are marked as Ex.P.46. (o) On 26.8.1988 also he examined some of the witnesses viz., the complainant, P.Ws.1 to 3, 30 and other witnesses and recorded their statements. On 19.10.1988 P.W.46 remanded A8, who was arrested by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (P.W.49). The confession statement of A8 was recorded by P.W.49 in the presence of P.W.30 and one Ponnusamy. The admissible portion of the confession statement is Ex.P.80. Pursuant to the said statement, A8 took P.W.49 and the witnesses to the house of P.W.12, from whom he recovered 2 Nos. Rs.50/- currency notes (M.O.57) under Mahazar Ex.P.81. P.W.49 examined the mahazar witnesses and recorded their statements. P.W.46 gave requisition to take A8 under police custody for enquiry and he was granted a day i.e. on 22.10.1988 for enquiry of A8 and accordingly, P.W.46 took A8 to his house at Ramanayakkanpatti and searched his house in the presence of one Balan and Thangavel. But he did not recover anything. On the same day, he produced A8 before the Judicial Magistrate, Chengam. He examined the witnesses and recorded their statements. On 7.2.1989 he sought permission from the Collector to register the case under the Arms Act. Since P.W.46 was transferred, he handed over the files to P.W.49. (p) On 13.4.1989, P.W.50 Inspector of Police perused the files and filed final report against A1 to A12 for the offences under Sections 419, 457, 392, 394, 396, 397 r/w 392, 302 (3 counts), 307 (4 counts), 353 of I.P.C. and Sections 3, 25(1)(A), 27 (2) & (3) of the Arms Act. 8. When the accused were questioned under Section 313 Cr.P.C. with regard to the incriminating materials available in evidence, they denied the same as false. 9. Heard Mr.V. Gopinath, learned senior counsel appearing for A1, Mr. R. Sankarasubbu, learned counsel appearing for A4, Mr. G. Pugazhendi, learned counsel appearing for A5 and the learned Additional Public Prosecutor, Mr. P. Kumaresan. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 10. The learned Senior Counsel Mr. V. Gopinath appearing for A1, who was punished with death sentence by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvannamali, who made reference to this Court, would submit in his argument that the first incident was at 8.30 p.m. on 27.7.1988 relating to the robbery at the house of Pitchaikara Gounder, the husband of P.W.1 and thereafter, the second incident was at 9.00 p.m. on the same day in which the death of Ramasamy, Ravanan and Panchalai had occurred and serious injuries had been caused to four witnesses viz., Anbazhagan, Jayaraman, Subbarayan and Kuppammal. The complaint was given by Pitchaikara Gounder at 9.30 p.m. in respect of the first incident to the S.I. of Police (P.W.39) of Thanipadi Police Station and on that day itself a case was registered in Cr.No.104 of 1988 under Section 395 I.P.C. and the printed F.I.R. is Ex.P.47. He would further submit in his argument that the prosecution witnesses, who spoke about the first incident viz., Robbery are P.Ws.1,2,3,7 & 30 and the evidence so produced are contradictory in nature. Further, P.W.1 did not implicate A1. However, she had spoken about A4 & A5 and though P.W.2 identified A1 and A4, he had wrongly identified M.O.2-weapon available with P.W.38 as that of belonging to A1. P.W.3 who is said to have identified A1 and A4 is related to the complainant Pitchaikara Gounder. Even though the evidence of