Thakuramunda: A team of CBI sleuths from Kolkata nabbed the absconding accused in connection with the sensational murder case of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons late Thursday night.
The accused has been identified as Budhhadeb Nayak (45), a key associate of prime accused Dara Singh.
According to CBI official, the CBI team had conducted a raid at his house acting on a tip-off about his presence. His arrest came to the fore Friday morning after he was brought to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Thakurmunda for health check-up.
Notably, Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines (58) and his two minor sons Philip (10) and Timothy (6) were burnt to death January 22, 1999, by a mob at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district.
Graham Staines was a Christian missionary who worked with leprosy patients in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha for nearly 30 years. He had come to India from Australia in 1965. The family had opened a leprosy home in Baripada and his work among Adivasis and lepers was well-known.
Staines had gone to Manoharpur village for a festival on the night of the murders. Dara Singh claimed that Staines was involved in forced conversions of Adivasis. Singh got some followers together and went to Manoharpur village. The mob poured petrol on their car and set it on fire. Staines and his sons tried to escape but were prevented from doing so by the mob.
A total of 18 people, including Dara Singh, were arrested for this incident. Budhhadeb, who was a most wanted figure in the case, was absconding following the incident.
In 2003, a designated CBI court in Bhubaneswar had sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment. However, the Orissa High Court commuted Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005. In 2011, the Supreme Court upheld Orissa High Court’s judgement on Singh.
PNN