The Staines case

The CBI's success in the Staines murder case has come against great odds, enhancing people's faith in the investigative agency's ability to deliver the goods.

ALTHOUGH the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered several successes in the recent past, I would rate the conviction of Dara Singh and 12 others for the despicable murder (January 22,1999) of the Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two young sons at Manoharpur in Keonjhar District of Orissa as the most notable of them. The case had attracted tremendous international attention - mostly adverse - and had caused a severe dent on the secular image of the nation. I am personally aware of how many of our missions abroad had been hard put to explain the circumstances under which this shameful episode took place. If the judicial verdict had been otherwise, the government would have been further embarrassed. Viewed in this perspective, the judgment should come as a great relief to the Establishment as well as all right-thinking Indians.

Many may not know that the CBI's success came against the great odds that it encountered after the case was formally transferred to it nearly two months after the ghastly occurrence. (The case was initially registered by the local police station and then moved to the State Crime Branch CID, before the CBI came in following High Court intervention.) Except for the vaguely known fact that Dara Singh, an educated vagabond from Uttar Pradesh with supposedly mystic powers, was involved in the crime, it was a blind case that the CBI had to contend with right from the word `go'. In addition to Dara Singh, the first information report (FIR) drawn up by the police had carried five names. The CBI found these five to be innocent and decided to drop further action against them. Similarly, it turned out that about 60 persons arrested by the police had no link to the murder at all. These facts would indicate how diffused the whole scene was when the CBI stepped in.

Dara Singh was a much-dreaded character in the Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Orissa. He had come to police notice for several crimes, mostly against the Muslim community. Surprisingly, his attention suddenly focussed on the missionary activities of Staines. Dara Singh was learnt to have been annoyed that Staines was spreading the message of Christianity among the unlettered tribal people in the locality and trying to convert them. This anger later crystallised into a full-blown animosity that formed the motive for the crime.

Dara Singh had a large following among the local Mahanta community and exploited this to perpetrate the crime against the hapless Staines family. On getting to know that Staines and his followers were coming to Manoharpur on January 22, Dara Singh launched his preparations two days in advance at neighbouring villages, where he instigated violence against Christian missionaries, especially Staines. He enlisted the support of several villagers, asking them to come to Manoharpur to confront the group while it was in the village allegedly on a proselytising mission.

Late, on the evening of the fateful day, a group of about 30 people led by Dara Singh encircled the two vehicles carrying the Staines party that were parked in the village for the night. After damaging them with lathis and stones, they set fire to the two station wagons by throwing burning hay at them. When Staines and his two young sons who were sleeping in one of the vehicles tried to rush out to escape from the raging flame, they were pushed back. Some villagers who went to the rescue of the Australian family were threatened and driven away. Nothing could have been more barbaric and inhuman. A part of the local church was also burnt by the mob before it fled the area.

THE savage crime took place in one of the most backward areas of Orissa. Manoharpur is situated in a remote inaccessible part adjacent to the border between Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts. It has a semi-hilly terrain covered by dense forest with no accessible roads. Logistics were, therefore, a great problem. Food and shelter for visiting policemen were hard to come by, and supply of water and electricity in some villages was non-existent. To sustain a large investigating team in the area for a long period was itself a task that could demoralise the best of law enforcement agencies. Critics should keep this in mind while evaluating any police performance in the field. If no allowance is given to such factors, any assessment of police work could be skewed and unfair.

The Santhal community dominates this part of Orissa. There is also here more than a sprinkling of Mahantas. Neither group has advanced greatly and is touched only marginally by the various economic development projects in the State. They are ignorant of what goes on in the rest of the district, not to speak of the rest of the State or country. They speak their own dialect, namely., Santhali. Not many can understand Oriya. Shy by nature, they hardly interact with non-tribal people.

Apart from this stark social backwardness and the poverty that accompanies it, the local population is scared of anything that even remotely smacked of authority, be it government or private. This undeniable inhibition towards the rest of humanity was compounded in this case by the fear of Dara Singh and his associates. The latter were considered mystical and invincible, and one had to necessarily subject himself unquestioningly to their diktats. This state of mind of the local population was a major obstacle to investigation. The fear was such that few were even willing to identify Dara Singh after he was taken into custody, nearly a year after the occurrence.

There were many eyewitnesses to the crime. A large number of them ran away from the scene immediately after the incident and hid themselves to avoid being questioned by the police. While this is a normal reaction to events of the type, in the Staines case, the non-cooperation of witnesses was acute beyond belief. Locating each of them over a large and inhospitable geography was by itself an exercise that was tiring and time-consuming. Communicating with them, after being identified and cajoling them to testify to what they knew, was even more difficult. Apart from an intricate psyche that had to be broken before extracting information, language was another gulf. A majority knew only Santhali, and investigators familiar with this dialect could alone interact with most of the witnesses in the area.

Many factors that operated against the CBI in the Staines investigation are to be seen against the backdrop of the fact that the agency had to draw its team from its cosmopolitan composition. Many of the CBI team were from outside Orissa and had little knowledge of the terrain or the cultural fabric of the State. It is under such adverse circumstances that the State police lent a helping hand. The Orissa police were remarkable for their warmth and spontaneity, and rose to the occasion ungrudgingly. Actually, they were of great help in arresting a majority of the absconding accused, including Dara Singh who was nabbed exactly a year after his misdeed.

We hear very often these days of police reluctance to employ science in their workaday. It was gratifying that in the Staines case there was no such reservation. The CBI was quick to exploit the limited scope that the case offered for using science and technology. For instance, the two burnt down vehicles had to be thoroughly examined by experts to find out what inflammable material was used, especially in the context of several speculations on the subject. Since the rampaging mob was said to have attacked the vehicles with sharp weapons, specific marks on the vehicles had to be located and accounted for by laboratory tests.

While by no means the case warranted highly complicated or sophisticated application of science, the courtroom requirement for letting in evidence on every aspect of the case was never lost sight of. This is something that young investigators at the beginning stage of their career should bear in mind. Police credibility before Judges and Magistrates goes up greatly when there is evidence of the use of modern methods. It shows a willingness to innovate and demonstrates an honesty of purpose - qualities that some courts look for while evaluating evidence presented before them.

The CBI's travails did not end with the laying of the charge-sheet within the statutorily prescribed limit of three months. Investigation conducted thereafter led to a supplementary charge-sheet in November 2000. Nine of the 18 accused were still at large and had to be arrested before or during the trial. The complexity of the task can be gauged from the fact that, to this day, three of the accused are still absconding.

The agency cited more than 100 witnesses. About 50 were actually examined in court. Most of them were poor and unlettered. The task of producing them in court and on time was gargantuan, considering the fact that the trial was held in Bhubaneswar, nearly 300 km from Manoharpur. They deposed to the point and gave an impeccable account of the sequence of events. This was a feat in these days of witnesses being bought over and made to turn hostile to the prosecution! (Recall what the Gujarat Director-General of Police admitted before the apex court a few days ago in the Best Bakery case. The court was positively disturbed over this pernicious phenomenon of key witnesses being tampered with at will and the prosecution remaining a mute spectator.)

The Staines murder took place within days of my taking over the stewardship of the CBI. The case came under the agency two months thereafter. Looking back, more than two years since I hanged up my boots, I am supremely satisfied with the denouement. While I should confess that my own contribution to the investigation was nominal, the CBI team that went into the field did a remarkable, original job. The investigation called for not only imagination and superior interrogation abilities, but tremendous physical and mental toughness as well.

Here I must acknowledge the leadership of Superintendent of Police Loknath Behera who moulded his team to great effect. A young, energetic and dynamic IPS officer allotted to Kerala, Loknath came from Orissa. He skillfully used his knowledge of the State and terrain and forged such a good relationship with the State police that there was little that was not forthcoming. He drew liberally from his experience in the Purulia Arms Drop case and several other investigations under his belt to give a professional touch to the whole case.

It is officers such as Loknath who lend strength and a positive image to an otherwise battered IPS. I am happy that he has now been promoted to the next rank of Deputy Inspector-General, an elevation that he richly deserved.

It is successes such as the conviction of Dara Singh and his group that help us to retain our faith in the ability of our investigating agencies to deliver the goods. However, against this one success, we have had many shocking and eminently forgettable failures that have brought ignominy to the whole Indian police. Again, the dependence on one outfit like the CBI for taking up controversial cases is to be discouraged at all costs.

There are many young men and women in the force, not necessarily IPS officers but outside the CBI, who are languishing in the States. They, especially those in the ranks of Sub-Inspectors and Inspectors, have incredible criminal investigation prowess. They will have to be motivated and nursed a lot more than we do now. Some States have done well on this score. However, many need to a lot better if they have to build a corps that will take up challenges such as the Staines murder case.