Graham Staines murder convict Mahendra Hembram released from Keonjhar jail in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Mahendra Hembram, one of the two men convicted in the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, has been released from Keonjhar jail in Odisha after serving 25 years. His release was granted on grounds of good behaviour.

Hembram, now 50, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for his role in the triple murder that shocked the nation. He was arrested in 1999, shortly after Staines and his sons were burned alive while sleeping in their vehicle in Manoharpur, Odisha. Of the 14 people initially accused, 12 were acquitted. Hembram and Dara Singh (alias Rabindra Pal Singh) were convicted. Singh was originally given the death penalty, later commuted to life imprisonment by the Odisha High Court in 2005, a decision the Supreme Court upheld.

Hembram, speaking to the media after his release, claimed he was falsely implicated. Meanwhile, Singh remains in prison but filed a mercy petition in 2024 with both the SC and the President.