By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The Odisha State Sentence Review Board has recommended the release of Dara Singh – the prime convict for the murder of Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in 1999 – from jail on ground of “good behaviour”, reported The Hindu.
The development comes days after prime minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Australia.
At present Singh is lodged in Keonjhar district jail i the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, having spent 26 years in different prisons for the gruesome murder of Staines and his sons on the night of January 22, 1999.
The Hindu report added that Singh’s release was recommended by the Director General of Police (Prison) after receiving a proposal to the same effect from Keonjhar district authorities.
During a meeting of the Odisha State Sentence Review Board which was held in the first week of July, the cases of eligible life convicts were considered for their premature release from jail.
Earlier, in the last meeting of the board that was held in September 2025, 107 cases were considered, of which 18 cases were recommended, 75 cases were rejected and 14 cases were deferred by the Board.
“On receipt of approval from the government during November 2025, all 18 life convicts have been released from jails. All 14 deferred cases were placed before the board for consideration of their premature release. Dara Singh’s case was one of them,” an official of Odisha’s Directorate of Prison and Correctional Services told The Hindu.
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