Baripada, India - Dara Singh, sentenced to death in the Australian missionary Graham Staines murder case and facing trial in three other cases, today launched an indefinite fast in the jail demanding, among other things, free access to newsmen.
Dara, also known as Ravindra Kumar Pal, refused to have food since noon after submitting a petition to the jail authorities, official sources said.
In the petition, addressed to the District and Sessions Judge Harihar Satpathy, Dara complained that he was being fettered and had no water or toilet facilities.
He alleged that he was being provided low grade food and his brother and a lawyer from Delhi were not allowed to meet him in the jail.
Dara, lodged in the local jail, is facing trial in the murder of catholic priest Arul Doss, killing of Muslim trader Shaikh Rehman in the Padiabeda market and murder of a truck helper in the court of the District and Sessions Judge here.
Trial in the Arul Doss murder case is scheduled to be held for two days from tomorrow.