Headnote
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The present matter arises from a Death Reference and connected Criminal Appeals filed against the judgment and order of conviction dated 06.09.2018 (sentence dated 26.09.2018) passed by the Additional Sessions Judge-IVth, Dumka in four Sessions Trial cases. The respondents/appellants were convicted for offences under Sections 148, 302/149, 302/120B/109, 396/149, 396/120B/109, 307/149, 307/120B/109, 333/149, 353/149, 427/149 of the IPC, Section 27(2) of the Arms Act, and Section 17 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, and were sentenced to death inter alia for offences under Sections 302/149 and 396/149 IPC.
The prosecution case relates to a Maoist extremist ambush on 02.07.2013 in which a group of 30-35 extremists made indiscriminate firing on a police convoy in a jungle road near Jamni, Dumka district, resulting in the death of the Superintendent of Police, Pakur, Amarjit Balihar, and several police constables, including Manoj Hembrom, Rajiv Kumar Sharma, and driver Ashok Kumar Shrivastava, and causing injuries to other personnel. Arms and ammunition including AK-47 rifles and INSAS rifles were looted from the deceased police personnel by the extremists, who fled raising Maowadi slogans.
The Death Reference was made for confirmation of the capital sentence imposed by the trial court, while the convicted persons filed separate Criminal Appeals challenging their conviction and sentence. The Jharkhand High Court took up all three matters together for hearing and adjudication.
Catchwords:
death reference
Maoist ambush
extremist attack
police convoy
murder of Superintendent of Police
dacoity with murder
unlawful assembly
common object
criminal conspiracy
abetment
Arms Act
Criminal Law Amendment Act
capital punishment
sentence of death
confirmation of death sentence
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Full Judgment Text
```json
{
"title": "The State Of Jharkhand vs Sukhlal @ Prabir Murmu @ Pravir Da @ Pravil Da @ Harendra Da @ Sanat Da @ Marang Da @ Amrit",
"case_number": "Death Ref. No. 04 of 2018; Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 1363 of 2018; Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 1378 of 2018",
"side": "criminal",
"date_of_judgment": "2025-07-17",
"bench": "Rongon Mukhopadhyay J, Sanjay Prasad J",
"reportable": false,
"parties_petitioner": "The State of Jharkhand",
"parties_respondent": "Sukhlal @ Prabir Murmu @ Pravir Da @ Pravil Da @ Harendra Da @ Sanat Da @ Marang Da @ Amrit and Sanatan Baski @ Tala Da",
"
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