The Hindu : Staines case accused to challenge verdict

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2003

National

National

Staines case accused to challenge verdict

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR SEPT. 15. The accused in the killing of the Australian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, and his two minor sons were today held guilty by a Designated Central Bureau of Investigation court four years and seven months after the crime.

The District and Sessions Judge, Mahendra Nath Patnaik, held the 13 accused, including the prime accused, Dhara Singh, guilty under Sections 120(B), 148, 435, 436, 302 and 149 of the IPC for offences, including criminal conspiracy and murder.

Apart from Dara Singh, the other accused who were convicted by the court are Dipu Das, Suratha Nayak, Mahendra Hembram, Renta Hembram, Harish Mahanta, Kartik Lohar, Mahadev Mahanta, Thoram Ho, Daya Patra, Ojen Hansda, Rabi Soren and Umakanta Bhoi.

Bana Mohanty, counsel for Dara Singh and the other accused, said they would challenge the order in the High Court after the trial court pronounced its judgment on the point of sentence.

When contacted, Gladys Staines, widow of Graham Staines, said: "I have full faith in the judiciary. The law should take its own course." Ms. Staines lives at Baripada in Mayurbhanj district where she is managing the affairs of the leprosy home that was being run by her late husband.

Mark Webslor, Consul to the Australian High Commissioner in India, who was present in the court, told presspersons that he would report about the development to the Australian Government that was attaching importance to the case.

Graham Staines and his sons, Phillip (11) and Timothy (7), were burnt to death when they were asleep inside a vehicle at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district of the State after attending a jungle camp, an annual gathering of Christians of the area for fellowship and teaching.

The case was registered by the local police but was later taken over by the Crime Branch of the State police and subsequently handed over to the CBI.

The CBI had chargesheeted Dara Singh and 17 others submitting that there was enough evidence on record to show the involvement of the accused. However, 14 of the accused, including Dara Singh, faced trial in the court of Mr. Patnaik.

Of them, 13 persons, including Anirudh Dandapat, were in judicial custody and one accused, Umakanta Bhoi, was on bail. Mr. Bhoi was taken into custody soon after the court pronounced its order.

Three accused in the case are still absconding, and another accused, Chenchu Hansda, who was tried by a separate court for being a minor, has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

The Deputy Inspector-General of CBI, Loknath Behera, who conducted the investigation in the case, said the investigation was still open as all the accused had not been brought to justice.

Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports:

Reacting to the judgment, the former CBI Director, R.K. Raghavan, said here that "it is very satisfying. The credit must go to the investigation team led by Loknath Behera, the then Superintendent of Police and now a DIG, from Orissa."

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