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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
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.
Meanwhile, the CBI discharged 54 persons arrested in connection with the case of whom 51 had been picked up by the police within two days of the incident. The 51 persons had already been released on bail while the three nabbed later were being released.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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