Home > News > PTI

Dara conspired to kill Staines: CBI

July 16, 2003 19:34 IST
Last Updated: July 16, 2003 19:46 IST


The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday told the trial court in the murder case of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons that the prime accused in the case, Dara Singh, and his associates, had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate the trio.

Staines and his two children were killed in a well-planned manner, the CBI counsel, S K Mund, contended during arguments, which began on Wednesday in the court of the district and sessions judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik.

The CBI counsel said that the prosecution had examined 55 witnesses in the case of whom 10 were eyewitnesses to the incident.

Quoting from their deposition, Mund said that prosecution witnesses Bidyadhar Mahanta had said in the court that Dara and his associate Rajat Kumar Das alias Dipu had met him twice in 1998 and told him that the Christian priests had to be 'taught a lesson' as they were converting Hindus into Christianity.

Dara and Dipu had told Purna Mahanta on January 20, 1999, two days before the crime, that the Christian priests had come to Manoharpur to convert Hindus and asked him to arrange people to attack the missionaries. They repeated the same before another prosecution witness Kaibalya Biswal on January 21, 1999.

Dara hatched the final plan in the wheatfield of one Srikanta Purty, the CBI counsel said. He had told the assembled group of people as to how the killing had to be executed. Dara split them into three groups before the crime was committed, Mund submitted.


Article Tools

Email this Article

Printer-Friendly Format

Letter to the Editor



Related Stories


Madhumita case: Prints vanish

CBI probe into Madhumita case



People Who Read This Also Read


Tandoor case: Court slams State





© Copyright 2003 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

Share your comments


 What do you think about the story?




Read what others have to say:


Number of User Comments: 1




Sub: Dara...

Yes Hindus, when you do not have a point use force to kill--even an innocent saint who tended to lepers, the 'untouchables' in a Hindu ...


Posted by Ramesh




Disclaimer







Copyright © 2003 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.