Odisha Govt mulls release of right-wing extremist and killer of Graham Staines, Dara Singh

One of the right-wing extremists convicted for burning to death Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in 1999, Dara Singh, has been deemed a man of “good behaviour” by prison authorities, prompting the Odisha State Sentence Review Board to recommend his premature release after twenty-six years of incarceration.

The recommendation, first reported by The Hindu, follows a proposal submitted by the authorities of Keonjhar district jail, where Singh is presently lodged. Acting on the recommendation of the Director General of Prisons, the State Sentence Review Board considered Singh’s case during its meeting in the first week of July, when it reviewed applications from life convicts eligible for premature release.

According to officials of the Directorate of Prison and Correctional Services, Singh’s application had previously been deferred during the Board’s September 2025 meeting. Of the 107 cases examined then, 18 were recommended for release, 75 were rejected and 14, including Singh’s, were held over for further consideration. The 18 prisoners whose release was approved by the state government in November 2025 have since been freed.

Singh was the principal convict in one of independent India’s most notorious communal crimes. On the night of 22 January 1999, he led a mob that set ablaze the station wagon in which Graham Staines, who worked among people afflicted with leprosy, and his sons Philip, aged ten, and Timothy, aged six, were sleeping. All three perished in the inferno.

A trial court in Khordha sentenced Singh to death in 2003, while twelve others received life imprisonment. The Odisha High Court later commuted Singh’s death sentence to imprisonment for life. He was also convicted in two separate murder cases involving a Muslim trader and another Christian missionary, receiving life sentences in both.

The development assumes political significance in light of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s earlier support for demands seeking Singh’s release. In 2022, while serving as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief whip in the Assembly, Majhi joined Sudarshan TV editor Suresh Chavhanke in protesting outside Keonjhar jail after the latter was denied permission to meet Singh.

Chavhanke, widely criticised for his inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric, has long campaigned for Singh’s release. At the time, Majhi described the demand as legitimate and indicated that the BJP could consider extending formal support if circumstances warranted.