New Delhi: Fifty-one-year-old Mahendra Hembram, who is one of the convicts in the case related to the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in 1999, was released from Odisha’s Keonjhar jail on Wednesday (April 16) on account of “good behaviour” after spending 25 years in prison.

Hembram, who was serving a life sentence, was convicted along with Rabindra Pal Singh, also known as Dara Singh for the murder of Staines and his sons, an incident that had resulted in global outrage, reported Indian Express.

Hembram was arrested on December 9, 1999.

After he was released from jail, Hembram claimed he was falsely implicated in the case because he was opposing religious conversion and cow slaughter.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the Odisha Government on March 19 to take a decision on the plea for premature release of Singh.

Officials had said the state government would take a call on Singh’s release in the next few weeks.

Officials said that Hembram’s release was in accordance with the recommendations of the Odisha State Sentence Review Board based on the guidelines of the premature release policy.

Staines along with his two minor sons – Timothy, 6, and Philip, 10 – were burnt alive by a mob as they were sleeping inside a jeep in the Manoharpur village of the Keonjhar district on the night of January 21, 1999.

The attack was linked to tension over alleged religious conversion.

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