archive: Staines' murder -- CBI charges 18; Dara still at large
Staines' murder -- CBI charges 18; Dara still at large
Press Trust Of India
The Indian Express
June 23, 1999
Title: Staines' murder -- CBI charges 18; Dara still at large
Author: Press Trust Of India
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 23, 1999
BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 22: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today
filed a chargesheet against 18 persons in connection with the gruesome
killing of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two
minor sons at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district on the night of January
22 last. Of the accused, nine people, including the main accused Dara
Singh are absconding.
The chargesheet was filed in the court of the designated CBI
magistrate, E Vasudev Rao here by the counsel for CBI, B Sudhakar.
Surprisingly, five of the six persons named in the FIR lodged with the
police at the Anandapur police station on January 23 last following
the incident did not figure in the chargesheet. The CBI investigation
showed that actually 46 persons were involved in the crime but only 18
had been named in the chargesheet while the other 28 were also
absconding.
A list of 90 witnesses examined by the CBI and 64 documents were also
submitted before the court.
The chargesheet said that the motive behind the attack on Stainesby
the accused was to stop the conversion of tribals to Christianity as
Dara Singh had been against the work of Christian missionaries in the
area.
As per the chargesheet, Dara Singh and Dipu Das met Purna Chandra
Mahanta at Telanadisahi village on January 20 and asked him to arrange
15-20 people to eliminate the Christian missionaries.
The next day, Dara, Dipu, Kartik Lohar, Andha Nayak and a few others,
mostly young boys, stayed at Dumuridiha village, about 2.5 km from
Manoharpur to finalise plans to assault missionaries.
A meeting was held on January 22 at Remilidiha village where they
decided to attack and burn down the vehicles of the missionaries
camping at Manoharpur. At around 8.00 pm the same day, 46 people
assembled at the wheat field near Dumuridiha village.
Soon after, they left for Manoharpur, some of them armed with bows and
arrows, some carrying torchlights and Dara Singh holding an axe. They
also sported red headbands supplied by Dara, the chargesheet said.
About 15 to 20 personssurrounded the vehicle in which Staines and his
two children were asleep. They smashed the windscreens and threw
burning bundles of straw into the vehicle while some set fire to the
station wagon from outside.
When Staines and his two children desperately tried to come out of the
burning vehicle, Dara Singh and others pushed them back into the fire
and did not allow them to escape, it said. The villagers who tried to
come to the rescue of the missionary and his children were threatened
with dire consequences by the other members of the group. The
attackers also burnt down the other station wagon and part of the
church nearby. After ensuring that Staines and his children were dead,
Dara whistled and the gang left for Dumuridiha village on foot.
As per the chargesheet, Dara and Dipu went to Kumudabahali village,
about 12 km from Manoharpur the next day and informed a villager,
Debendra Mahanta, that they had committed an operation the previous
night.
Dara hid himself at various places but was keepinghimself abreast of
the fallout of the Manoharpur incident through newspapers, it said.
The CBI had sought permission from the court under section 173(8) CRPC
for conducting further investigation into the case.
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