1 2026:CGHC:18203 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 2159 of 2026 Umesh Singh Thakur S/o Narendra Singh Thakur Aged About 35 Years R/o Taldevri Thana Birra, District Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh. --- Applicant(s) versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House O昀케cer, P.S. Balko Nagar, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. --- Non-applicant(s) For Applicant : Mr. Suresh Kumar Verma, Advocate. For Non-applicant/State : Mr. Soumya Rai, Dy. Govt. Advocate. MCRC No. 2992 of 2026 Kaleshwar Singh S/o Atik Singh Aged About 27 Years R/o Village Kamrid P.S. Saragaon District- Janjgir-Champa (C.G.) ---Applicant(s) Versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Balco Nagar, District- Korba (C.G.) --- Non-applicant(s) For Applicant : Mr. Vikas Kumar Pandey, Advocate. For Non-applicant/State : Mr. Soumya Rai, Dy. Govt. Advocate. KUNAL DEWANGAN Digitally signed by KUNAL DEWANGAN 2 MCRC No. 2673 of 2026 1 - Narsingh Das S/o Kaval Das Aged About 40 Years R/o Village Baredimuda, Gopalpur, Police Station Darri, District - Korba Chhattisgarh 2 - Videshi Das S/o Late Mukul Das Aged About 36 Years R/o Village Taraidand, Police Station - Balko Nagar, District Korba Chhattisgarh ... Applicant(s) Versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House O昀케cer, Police Station Balko Nagar, District Korba Chhattisgarh --- Non-applicant(s) For Applicant : Mr. S.P. Sannat, Advocate. For Non-applicant/State : Mr. Soumya Rai, Dy. Govt. Advocate. MCRC No. 2226 of 2026 Nandkishore Rathore S/o Dhaniram Rathore Aged About 34 Years R/o Khamhiya, Police Station Nagarda, Present Address- Near Lion School, Bdm Hospital Road Champa, District Janjgir Champa, Chhattisgarh. ---Applicant(s) Versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station Head O昀케cer, Police Station Balcongar, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. ----Non-applicant(s) For Applicant : Mr. Anshul Tiwari, Advocate. For Non-applicant/State : Mr. Soumya Rai, Dy. Govt. Advocate. Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order on Board 21/04/2026 1. Since the above bail applications are arising out of same crime numbers and same o昀昀ence so they are being heard and decided by 3 this common order. 2. The applicants have preferred these First Bail Applications under Section 483 of BNSS for grant of regular bail, as they have been arrested in connection with Crime No.707/2025, registered at Police Station Balko Nagar, District: Korba (C.G.) for the o昀昀ence punishable under Sections 310(2), 310(4), 61 324(4) of B.N.S. 2023 and Section 25 and 27 of Arms Act. 3. As per the prosecution case, it is revealed from the record that on 12.11.2025, the complainant namely Shatruhan Das appeared at Police Station Balko Nagar, District Korba, and lodged a First Information Report stating that on the intervening night of 12.11.2025 at about 01:00 AM, he noticed that around 15–18 unknown persons were standing in the courtyard of his house. Upon seeing them, he raised an alarm shouting that thieves had entered his house and called upon the villagers for help. Thereupon, out of the said group, about four persons approached him, placed a pistol on his temple and a sword on his neck, and tied both his hands behind his back with a nylon rope. Thereafter, all the accused persons, by using force and under threat of deadly weapons such as pistols, swords, knives, and sticks, assaulted him and his family members and took them under their control. Thereafter, the accused persons broke open the almirah, boxes, trunk, and cot (diwan) in the house and committed loot of gold and silver ornaments and cash, namely: silver anklets, silver hand ornaments, silver armlets, silver waist chain, silver toe rings, gold mangalsutra, silver bangles, silver chain, gold earrings, three pairs 4 of silver anklets, two gold beads, one gold ring, one gold ring with two leaves design, gold nose ring, and cash amounting to Rs. 2,00,000/-, total valued at Rs. 5,40,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Forty Thousand only). The accused persons also took away 昀椀ve mobile phones belonging to the complainant and his family members. Thereafter, while leaving, they con昀椀ned the family members inside the room of their son and daughter and bolted the door from outside. On the basis of the said report of the complainant, o昀昀ence under Section 310(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered and taken up for investigation. During the course of investigation, accused persons namely Saheb Das, Videshi Das, Sunil Das, Nandkishor Rathore, Pawan Poojan Gond, Santosh Kumar Shrivas, Umesh Singh Thakur, Samar Singh Gond, Kaleshwar Singh, Rati Ram Yadav, Chandrakant Dixena, Naram Jaiswal, Gorelal Patel, Ritesh Shyam, Gunit Ram Patel, Shankar Patel, Pradeep Yadav, Arjun Kumar Vishwakarma, Laxminarayan Shyam, Vinod Kumar Salam, Akshay Kumar @ Akku Pawle, and Durgesh Jethwa were apprehended. From their possession, and as per their memorandum statements, weapons used in the commission of o昀昀ence such as swords, knives, sabar, pickaxe (gaiti), katta, chopper, sticks, fake pistol, as well as 昀椀ve vehicles bearing registration numbers CG-10-VS-AE- 9553, CG-13-C-7514, CG-12-VH-8332, CG-12-AY-5570, and CG- 10-BS-4686, along with hoodie, mu昀툀er, and gamcha, were seized separately. It has further been revealed during investigation that the accused persons, namely Pawan Poojan Gond, Gorelal Patel, 5 Ritesh Shyam, Mahendra @ Chandrakant Dixena, Umesh Singh, Kaleshwar Singh, Nandkishor Rathore, Manoj Das, Sonu Barmate, and Arun Vaishnav had, on 06.11.2025, also made preparation to commit dacoity by travelling in vehicles bearing registration numbers CG-13-C-7514, CG-12-VH-8332, and CG-12-AY-5570 to village Taraidand. However, due to the villagers being awake on that night, they could not execute their plan. Accordingly, o昀昀ence under Section 310(4) of BNS was also added. Further, as the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy, Section 61 of BNS was invoked. Moreover, due to breaking of household articles and digging causing damage to the property of the complainant, Section 324(4) of BNS was also added. Since the seized weapons such as swords, knives, iron katta, chopper, and fake pistol fall within the ambit of o昀昀ences punishable under the Arms Act, Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act were also invoked. On the basis of the evidence collected during investigation, all the 23 accused persons have been found involved in the commission of the o昀昀ence under Sections 310(2), 310(4), 61, 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. All the accused persons have been duly arrested and remanded to judicial custody. 4. Learned counsel appearing for the applicants submit that the applicants are innocent persons and have been falsely implicated in the present case and have no connection whatsoever with the alleged o昀昀ence. It is further submitted that though the FIR alleges involvement of 15–18 unknown persons, the names of the present 6 applicants do not 昀椀nd place in the FIR and they have been implicated subsequently only on the basis of memorandum statements of co-accused persons, which have no evidentiary value in the eyes of law. It is also submitted that no looted articles, ornaments or cash have been recovered from the possession of the present applicants and there is no direct evidence connecting them with the alleged o昀昀ence. The complainant has neither identi昀椀ed the present applicants nor any Test Identi昀椀cation Parade has been conducted. It is further contended that there is no call detail record or any other corroborative evidence showing presence of the applicants at the place of occurrence and, in fact, one of the applicants was not present at the spot at the time of incident and was at his native village, which is situated at a considerable distance from the place of occurrence. Learned counsel further submit that the applicants have been in judicial custody since 18.11.2025 and the investigation has already been completed and charge-sheet has been 昀椀led, therefore, no further custodial interrogation is required. It is also submitted that even if the entire prosecution story is taken at its face value, no o昀昀ence under Sections 310(2), 310(4), 61, 324(4) of the B.N.S., 2023 and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act is made out against the present applicants. The applicants undertake to abide by all the terms and conditions that may be imposed by this Court and are ready to furnish adequate bail bonds. Hence, it is prayed that the applicants be enlarged on bail. 5. On the other hand, learned State counsel appearing for the 7 State/non-applicant vehemently opposes the bail applications and submits that the present case is of a serious and heinous nature involving a well-organized act of dacoity committed by a group of 15–18 persons, who, armed with deadly weapons, trespassed into the house of the complainant during night hours, assaulted the complainant and his family members and committed loot of gold and silver ornaments along with cash. It is submitted that as per the prosecution case, the accused persons looted valuable articles including gold mangalsutra, gold earrings, gold rings, gold nose ring, silver anklets, silver bangles, silver chain, silver waist chain, silver armlets, silver toe rings, and cash amounting to Rs. 2,00,000/-, totaling approximately Rs. 5,40,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Forty Thousand only). It is further submitted that during the course of investigation, on the basis of memorandum statements of the accused persons, several incriminating articles have been recovered, which clearly establish their involvement in the o昀昀ence. From the possession of applicant Umesh Singh Thakur, a “gaiti” (iron pickaxe), which was used in the commission of o昀昀ence, has been seized. Similarly, from other accused persons, weapons such as swords, knives, sabar, katta, chopper, sticks and fake pistol have been recovered. Apart from this, 昀椀ve vehicles bearing registration numbers CG-10-VS-AE-9553, CG-13-C-7514, CG-12- VH-8332, CG-12-AY-5570 and CG-10-BS-4686, which were used in commission of the o昀昀ence, have also been seized. Further, clothes used during the incident such as hoodie, mu昀툀er and gamcha have also been recovered from di昀昀erent accused persons. 8 6. Learned State counsel further submits that the present applicants are part of a criminal conspiracy and were actively involved in preparation as well as execution of the o昀昀ence, and it has also come on record that prior to the incident, the accused persons had assembled for committing dacoity but could not execute their plan due to alertness of villagers. It is argued that considering the gravity of o昀昀ence, the manner in which the o昀昀ence has been committed, the number of accused persons involved and the recovery of weapons and other incriminating materials, there is a strong prima facie case against the present applicants. There is every likelihood that if the applicants are released on bail, they may abscond or tamper with prosecution witnesses, as the witnesses belong to the same locality and are vulnerable. Hence, in view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, learned State counsel prays for rejection of the bail applications. 7. I have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the case diary. 8. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, particularly the fact that the names of the present applicants do not 昀椀nd place in the FIR and they have been implicated subsequently on the basis of memorandum statements of co-accused persons, further considering that no looted articles or cash have been recovered from their possession and there is no direct evidence connecting them with the alleged o昀昀ence, also taking into account that the complainant has not identi昀椀ed the present applicants and no Test Identi昀椀cation Parade has been conducted and further considering 9 that the applicants are in custody since 18.11.2025, the investigation has been completed and charge-sheet has already been 昀椀led and, therefore, their further custodial interrogation is not required, this Court is of the view that it is a 昀椀t case to enlarge the applicants on bail. 9. Accordingly, the bail applications of the applicants are allowed. 10. Let applicants namely- Umesh Singh Thakur, Kaleshwar Singh, Narsingh Das, Videshi Das, Nandkishore Rathore, are involved in Crime No.707/2025, registered at Police Station Balko Nagar, District: Korba (C.G.) for the o昀昀ence punishable under Sections 310(2), 310(4), 61 324(4) of B.N.S. 2023 and Section 25 and 27 of Arms Act, be released on bail on their furnishing personal bond with two sureties each in the like sum to the satisfaction of the Court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicants shall file an undertaking to the effect that they shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law. (ii) The applicants shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through their counsel. In case of their absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against them under Section 269 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. 10 (iii) In case, the applicants misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure their presence, proclamation under Section 84 of BNSS. is issued and the applicants fail to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against them, in accordance with law, under Section 209 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. (iv) The applicants shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 351 of BNSS. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicants are deliberated or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against them in accordance with law. 11. Office is directed to send a certified copy of this order to the trial Court concerned for necessary information and compliance forthwith. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Kunal