Former Bajrang Dal activist and prime convict in the gruesome murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in Odisha’s Keonjhar district is likely to be set free soon.
The Odisha State Sentence Review Board has recommended the release of 62-year-old Dara Singh on ground of "good behaviour," a report said.
Another report quoting Dara Singh’s counsel A P Singh said the state informed the Supreme Court that the State Sentence Review Board had considered 56 remission cases, including Singh’s, at its July 6 meeting.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed hope that the committee examining the remission plea of Dara Singh would take a decision soon.
"Let him also celebrate Independence Day. You must take a decision by August 15," the bench told the state's counsel, while posting the matter for further hearing on August 19, a report quoting PTI said.
Before adjourning the case, the Odisha government sought a short deferment, informing the court that the committee examining the remission plea had called for records, which were yet to be made available.
Dara Singh, whose real name is Rabindra Kumar Pal, is a native of UP's Auraiya district. He is incarcerated in Odisha's Keonjhar jail. He has served more than 25 years in prison.
Dara Singh was convicted for leading a mob that set fire to a station wagon in Manoharpur village on the night of January 22, 1999. Graham Staines and his sons Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, were trapped inside the vehicle and burnt alive.
Singh landed in police net on January 31, 2000. Of the 50 accused arrested between 1999 and 2000, 37 were acquitted within three years.
A CBI court in Bhubaneswar awarded the death penalty to Singh and sentenced 12 others to life imprisonment in September 2003. The Orissa High Court later acquitted 11 of the co-convicts.
A fellow convict was released on April 16 last year on grounds of good conduct.
Dara Singh' death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the High Court in May 2005. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court order in January 2011.
According to a report, Singh was also convicted and given life sentence in two other murder cases of a Muslim trader and another Christian missionary.
