Dara Singh, prime accused in the gruesome murder of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two young sons Philip and Timothy on January 23, 1999, was trying to mobilise people, particularly tribals, in Manoharpur village for the act two days before the incident, a witness said.
Purna Mohanta, a non-Christian tribal and a witness of the Central Bureau of Investigation, told the trial court on Friday that Singh was trying to mobilise people, particularly youths of the Mohanta community, to kill 'Saheb', as Staines was popularly known.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Bhakta Marandi, another CBI witness, had identified Singh, the main accused, in court.
Mohanta, a gram vendor, was the only witness produced by the CBI on Friday before the Khurda district and sessions judge.
"When I was selling chana in the haat [market] in Telnadisahi adjoining Manoharpur village on January 20, 1999, I saw Dara Singh and Dipu Das [a co-accused in the case] drinking handia [a locally brewed liquor]. Dara Singh asked me if I can arrange 15 to 20 people to finish Saheb and the Christians who were camping in Manoharpur," Mohanta told the court.
Mohanta said Dara Singh tried to emotionally blackmail him by saying that the elimination of Saheb and the Christians was necessary because they were destroying "our religion and converting tribals, particularly people of the Mohanta community".
"I expressed my inability to arrange people for the task," Mohanta told the court. "But next day, on January 21, 1999, I again saw Dara Singh and Dipu Das roaming around in the market on bicycles and asking people to arrange people for their task."
Mohanta said he had known Dara Singh for five years. "I knew him as he was a Hindi teacher. Besides, he did a part-time vegetable business in the nearby haat," he said.
When Judge Mahendranath Patnaik asked Mohanta if he could identify Singh, the vendor pointed out Dara Singh and Dipu Das among the accused standing in the dock.