Dara Singh (Bajrang Dal)

Dara Singh (né Ravinder Kumar Pal; born 2 October 1962) is a Bajrang Dal member who was convicted for leading the religious mob that murdered Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6) on 22 January 1999. The Staines were sleeping in their station wagon at Manoharpur village in the Kendujhar district of the Indian state of Orissa, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) from Bhubaneswar, when the mob attacked and set the vehicle on fire, prevented even the children from escaping and murdered all three.

Singh was earlier involved in the cow protection movement of the Bajrang Dal and had earlier targeted Muslim cattle traders. The Wadhwa Commission stated that the Bajrang Dal was not involved in the murder of Staines, justifying its non-examination of the role of the Bajrang Dal on the grounds that the Dal was a peaceful and legal organisation.

Singh was also charged in the killing of Muslim trader Shaikh Rehman at Padibeda village in Karanjia sub-division of Mayurbhanj district. and in the murder of a Christian cleric, Arul Das, in Jamboni village in the same district. Das was killed by an arrow as he was escaping after his church was set on fire. Singh is widely perceived by Hindutva activists to be the Sangh Parivar's most lethal and violent figures.

Dara Singh was born as Ravinder Kumar Pal, the son of Mihilal Pal of Kakor, Auraiya district, Uttar Pradesh and stayed for a brief period in Delhi, before coming to Baliposhi, Orissa in 1989. Over time he became associated with the Bajrang Dal and launched a campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversions. Singh's base of operations was the relatively affluent Padiabeda village in Mayurbhanj district, a Hindu nationalist stronghold. He was charged in several cases where trucks carrying cows to slaughter had been hijacked and looted. By redistributing these cows among the locals, he had achieved a degree of popularity among the tribals, and was also becoming a political figure. He had a small loyal band that was increasingly involved in violent opposition to what they perceived as anti-Hindu forces.

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