The Hindu : Dara Singh denies killing Staines

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003

National

National

Dara Singh denies killing Staines

By Our Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR MARCH 24. Dara Singh alias Ravinder Kumar Pal, prime accused in the killing of the Australian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, has denied any involvement in the crime.

Responding to queries of the Designated CBI Judge, Mahendranath Patnaik, here today, the accused said he had not led the mob which killed Staines and his two minor sons.

The three were burnt to death as they slept in their vehicle at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on January 22, 1999.

Dara Singh also denied having been a party to any conspiracy hatched by the accused to kill the missionary and his sons and added that he had not gone into hiding after the incident.

Another accused, Rajat Das, also denied involvement in the case and said Dara Singh had never asked him to kill the missionary.

However, Mahendra Hembram, another accused in the case, stood by his earlier statement before the court.

In a written statement in February last year, Hembram, a resident of Manoharpur, had claimed that he had set fire to the vehicle in which the victims were sleeping.

The remaining accused were innocent, he said.

The CBI had chargesheeted 18 persons in the case in June 1999, saying there was a prima facie case against the accused for commission of the offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Chenchu Hansda, one of the accused who was tried by another court for being a minor, has been convicted in the case.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National