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Dara Singh Now Sole Convict in Staines Killings
7 Oct
Summary
- Last accused in Graham Staines case acquitted, leaving Dara Singh as sole convict.
- Budhadeb Naik was acquitted Wednesday, 27 years after the 1999 killings.
- Graham Staines and his two sons were killed in a 1999 arson attack.
An Odisha court on Wednesday acquitted Budhadeb Naik, the last individual facing trial for the 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons. This acquittal leaves Dara Singh, a former Bajrang Dal activist, as the sole surviving convict serving a life sentence for the crime that occurred 27 years ago.
Naik, 52, had been accused of being part of the mob led by Dara Singh that set fire to the vehicle where Staines, his sons Philip (10) and Timothy (6), were sleeping. Staines was known for his work among leprosy patients and tribal communities in Odisha.
The court's decision on Wednesday followed the Odisha government's rejection of a remission plea for Dara Singh, who is currently serving his life sentence. Singh had approached the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking consideration for premature release.
Previously, a CBI court had sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment in 2003. The Orissa High Court later commuted Dara Singh's death sentence to life imprisonment and upheld the life term for another convict, Mahendra Hembram. Hembram was released prematurely on April 16, 2025.
