Bhubaneswar, Sept 22: The final act in the Graham Staines murder case will be played today in the trial court when it will pronounce the quantum of sentence for the convicted.
District and Sessions Judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik, who had heard the case for the last two and a half years, had convicted prime accused Dara Singh alias Ravindra Kumar Pal and 12 others last Monday.
He had fixed September 22 for hearing and pronouncement of the quantum of punishment.
Defence counsel in the case had already said they would challenge the verdict in the higher court.

Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district by a mob on the night of January 22, 1999.



Security had been tightened in and around the court and at sensitive places in the state including Karanjia sub-division in Mayurbhanj district where Dara had been active prior to the incident.


Bureau Report