Vadodara: Highway robbery can severely affect the economy and the movement of goods, a court in Halol observed while awarding life imprisonment to five accused in a 2012 highway robbery case near Kalol.A truck driven by Seeshram Saini, a resident of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, was loaded with nine copper coils weighing 27 tonnes and worth Rs 90 lakh at Dahej on Nov 29, 2012. The truck was headed to a factory in Noida when it was intercepted and stopped by another truck near Delol in Panchmahal district.Saini and the truck cleaner, Bulesh Kumar, were beaten and taken away in the other truck by 10 to 12 people. The assailants drove away Saini’s truck loaded with copper coils and robbed the cash the two men were carrying. The total value of the truck, goods and cash was Rs 98.61 lakh. The truck was later found abandoned, with the copper coils missing.Saini and Kumar were taken to an unidentified location where they were confined on Dec 1 and Dec 2, 2012. They were later taken to an isolated place near Mathura and left on the road with Rs 1,000 to return home. Saini registered an offence at Kalol police station in Panchmahal on Dec 10, 2012.Police arrested five persons for the offence and filed a chargesheet against them. Among the accused were Babudin Qureshi, Anis Qureshi, Hanif Qureshi and Bablu Qureshi, all residents of the same village, Dautana, in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. The fifth was Mubin Meo.After additional sessions judge B D Parmar held all the accused guilty, the prosecution sought the maximum punishment, arguing that they were involved in similar offences in other states and that the crime was pre-planned. Defence lawyers pleaded for leniency, saying Babudin was elderly and unwell. They also argued that the other accused had spent long periods as undertrial prisoners and that their families were suffering.After hearing both sides, the court awarded life imprisonment to the accused. Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with dacoity or robbery by a group of five or more persons, provides for life imprisonment.The order observed that the offence affected all sections of society, including the economy, transporters and the drivers’ community. It noted that such crimes created an atmosphere of fear and adversely affected not only those directly involved but also their families.The court further noted that such robberies had serious law and order implications and reflected the accused’s disregard for the law. It also cited Supreme Court observations that while deciding punishment, the offence, and not the offender, must be the guiding factor.
