Supreme Court denies bail to killer of missionaries

Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh, who is serving a life term for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two teenaged sons in January 1999, was denied bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Ravinder Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, the same convict was also convicted and sentenced for life imprisonment for killing a Catholic priest Fr Arul Doss in Jamabani village in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa.

Justice Arijit Pasayat dismissed Singh's bail plea saying that he was serving a life sentence in another murder case as well and granting him bail in one would not serve his purpose.

Singh who is presently undergoing life sentence in Baripada Circle Jail in Orissa approached the apex court for bail to visit his seriously ailing mother.

On the night of January 22, 1999, Dara Singh instigated a Hindu mob and attacked the Australia missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons who were sleeping in their jeep parked on the outskirts of Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district, Orissa.

The mob torched the jeep and burnt the occupants alive. The incident tugged the conscience of the nation and received global media coverage.

The same year, Dara Singh was convicted by the Baripada trial court for the murder of a 35–year–old Catholic priest Arul Doss. The priest was attacked, chased and struck down by arrows while attending a function.

Dozens of incidents of atrocities being perpetrated on minority communities have been reported from Orissa, one of the strongholds of Hindu fundamentalists. The state, where Christians account for only 2 percent of the total population, is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).