Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has upheld the life sentences of six men convicted of conspiracy and dacoity with murder in connection with the 2007 killings of an engineer and his driver in Hooghly, dismissing their appeals and affirming the trial court’s findings.
The case stemmed from the deaths of Jyoti Prakash Biswas, an engineer, and his driver, Kanchan Das, who went missing on February 5, 2007, after leaving their workplace in a Scorpio vehicle. Their bodies were discovered days later at separate locations in the Hooghly district. Investigators pieced together that the duo had been intercepted by a gang of men on the highway, robbed of their belongings and then strangulated inside the vehicle before the assailants fled with it.
The trial court, after examining a wide range of evidence, held all six accused guilty under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 396 (dacoity with murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 412 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of dacoity with murder.
When their appeals came up before the High Court, a Division Bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi scrutinised the trial record and evidence of 50 prosecution witnesses. Among them was an approver who had turned state witness and narrated in detail how an aborted plan to rob a man in Nabadwip eventually led the gang to target the green Scorpio. According to his testimony, Biswas was strangled after handing over his money bag and pleading for his life, while Das was killed moments later when he began crying.
The Bench noted that the approver’s testimony, while central, required corroboration.
The recovery of victims’ belongings, including a wristwatch, silver chain and parts of the Scorpio, was seen as important supporting evidence.
Medical reports confirmed that both deaths were homicidal in nature. The defence highlighted alleged lapses, including the absence of a test identification parade and contradictions in seizure evidence, but the judges held that these did not weaken the prosecution’s case.
In its verdict, the Bench confirmed the convictions and life sentences of all six men. It directed that the sentences run concurrently and that the period already spent in custody be set off against their terms.
The court further ordered that their bail bonds be cancelled, requiring those on bail to surrender immediately before the trial court. The trial records are to be transmitted back forthwith.