The trial of Dara Singh, main accused in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, began on Thursday in the court of Mahendranath Patnaik, district session judge, Khurda.
The trial will continue till March 10.
The court was packed with lawyers, police and curious onlookers. The trial had been earlier adjourned four times due to objections by defence lawyers. The CBI counsel presented Thakurdas Murmur, one of the witnesses, to record his statement.
Murmur was cross-examined by Singh's lawyer Shyamanand Mahapatra, who is also a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader.
However, the other two CBI witnesses Susamo Marandi and Barsi Tudu would be brought to court only on Friday. The CBI has listed about 97 witnesses in case, out of which 30 to 35 witnesses will be presented for cross examination.
Staines and his sons, Philip and Timothy, were burnt alive on January 23, 1999, at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district allegedly by Singh and some of his associates.
Singh and the other accused were brought from Baripada jail amidst tight security almost two hours later than scheduled.
During cross examination, Murmur said he had visited Manoharpur on the morning of January 23 after hearing of the incident from Naresh Hansda, the sarpanch of Manoharpur. "I saw two burnt vehicles near the Manohapur Church. In one vehicle there were three charred bodies."
However, he confirmed that there was no communal tension in the area except one incident between Christians and tribals in 1980.
"The police arrived at site ten minutes after my arrival," he said. Interestingly, Murmur said that police had not recorded his statement that day. He also added that he was unaware the Staines used to sleep in the vehicle.
"I do not know why Staines and his sons were burnt to death," he said.