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Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
The trial of Dara Singh, prime accused in the gruesome murder of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two minor sons, was adjourned on Monday till August 1.
The Khurda district sessions judge Mahendra Nath Patnaik announced the deferment due to absence of senior defence counsel Shayamanand Mahapatra in the court.
The judge said that Mahapatra had submitted a petition in the court on Monday informing him about his absence due to the death of his mother.
Mahapatra also informed the court his inability to attend the court for the next ten days, the defence lawyers said.
Besides Mahapatra, two of 14 accused were also not present in the court due to illness.
However, Justice Patnaik expressed his unhappiness over the repeated adjournment of the Staines murder trial.
Last month, the trial got deferred due to an indefinite hunger strike by Dara Singh demanding a ceiling fan in his cell.
He made it clear to the defence lawyers that from next month onwards he will not compromise in trial process.
Meanwhile, Dara Singh was sent back to Baripada jail with tight security. He was brought to Bhubaneswar Jail on July 28 last in view of the case trial on Monday.
Singh has been lodged in the Baripada jail since January last year when he was arrested by the Orissa police in connection with the Staines murder case.
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