Odisha man absconding in Graham Staines' murder case arrested

Mayurbhanj: After almost two decades, the CBI sleuths on Saturday arrested one Buddhadev Nayak in connection with the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons- Philip (10) and Timothy (6), on January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district.

Nayak is reportedly one of the close associates of the main accused of the murder, Dara Singh who is presently lodged at Thakurmunda Jail after being sentenced to life imprisonment by the Orissa High Court.

Acting on a tipoff, a team of CBI from Kolkata reached Nayak’s house at Nischitapur village under Thakurmunda Police Station and picked up Nayak on Thursday, said sources.

The officials took Nayak to Thakurmunda Community Health Centre (CHC) the other day for medical examination and subsequently brought him to the CBI Headquarters at Bhubaneswar yesterday.

The CBI officials are likely to grill Nayak regarding the links of any other persons involved in the murder case, added sources.

It may be noted that Staines along with his two sons was burnt alive inside his car while they were sleeping in the vehicle that night after attending a jungle camp, an annual gathering of people of Christian community of the area. They were reportedly burnt by a group of men who suspected him of carrying out conversions of the tribal people in the region.