(Source: https://threader.app/thread/1456519643800035330) Dara Singh was born in 1962, Uttar Pradesh. He was an active member of Gau Suraksha Samiti, financed by VHP. Singh was also involved in the election campaigins of BJP during 1998 Elections. Dara Singh’s base of operations was the relatively affluent Padiabeda village in Mayurbhanj district.
His main targets were Muxlim cow trader. He was charged with several small time cases, wherein he and his loyal gang used to hijjack and loot trucks which carried cows to slaughter. After having rescued Gau Mata, he used to distribute the cattle amongsthis local villagers, which led to him being immensely popular in the villages.
In 1998, a cattle truck was looted and torched, and the trucker’s assistant, Shaikh Imam was b@ttered to death in Godabhanga Ghati in the Mayurbhanj district. Singh was charged in this case and eventually acquitted in 2006, due to lack of sufficient evidence and hostile witnesses.
In November 1999, Shaikh Rahman, a Muzlim garment merchant was beaten and had his hands s$vered, before being burned to death at Padiabeda by more than 20men armed with machetes. His body was then set aflame and incinerated, to prevent his family members from recovering it and the garment stall was also set ablaze. Singh and his associate, Buluram Mohanty was indicted in connection with this killing. In October 2007, Singh was convicted of the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the 23 others were acquitted on grounds of insufficient evidence.
In September 1999,a Catholic priest, Arul Das was murdered with an arrow shot in Jamabani village in Mayurbhanjby a gang led by Dara Singh. Later, the Church was also burnt down. Singh was convicted in this case and sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2007, along with associates Chena Hao, Rajkishore Mohanta, and Jadunath Mohanta.
But his most famous act of Justice was the burning of Christian Missionary Graham Staines and his two sons.On 22 January 1999, a mob led by Dara Singh attacked the Station wagon inhabited by Graham Staines and his two sons at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district, Orissa. Chanting “Jai Bajarang Bali”, the mob set fire to the station wagon and the Staines’ were burned to death. Other perpetrators in the killing of Graham Staines included Bhimasen Mahanta, Rajat Das, Mahendra Hembram and Chenchu Hansda. At-least 11 squads of a special task force of the state police constantly patrolled some of the toughest jungle terrains of Mayurbhanj-Keonjhar region for over an year in search of him after the Staines murder. He always had the support of the local tribals and was always on the move. The police and CBI also put up a bounty of 8 lakhs on his head which too did not help. The police started the “Operation Confinement”, and the plan was to confine him and cut off his escape roads in thejungles.
The police arrested Dara singh after a year long chase at the night of January 31, 2000. In September 2003, the Khordha Court sentenced Dara to death for his role in the murders. However that verdict was reversed and Dara Singh ji is currently serving time in Prison. Subsequent to his arrest, his supporters formed several organisations, including Dara Singh Parijan Suraksha Samiti (Council for Aiding the Family of Dara Singh), Dharmarakhyak Sri Dara Singh Bachao Samiti (Committee to defend Dara Singh, the Protector of our Dharma), and Dara Sena (Dara’s Army), claiming to espouse his cause.These groups describe him as the saviour of Hinduism. There was also a “Free Dara Singh” website.