From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Denying any role in the Orissa killing of Australian
missionary Graham Staines in an affidavit filed before the
Wadhwa Inquiry Commission, the Bajrang Dal has expressed
misgivings at the Police failure to apprehend main accused Dara
Singh, dubbed as its activist, even after over two months of the
dastardly incident.

The Commission headed by sitting Supreme Court judge Justice D P
Wadhwa held an hour-long hearing here on Friday and decided to
hold a 3-day sitting in Bhubaneshwar from April 6 after getting
the spot report of the Commission's special investigation team
(SIT) constituted only last week after a lot of wrangling with
the Government.

Publicly expressing satisfaction now at the inffrastrural
facilities provided by the government, Justice Wadhwa directed
the Commission's SIT to visit the site of killing to collect
information and submit an interim report latest by April 3.

He, however, had a dig at the Centre saying it swhould have by
this time filed the Intelligence Bureau reports, if any, prior
to the incident. He also ruled that there would be "no secrecy"
when senior advocate P N Lekhi intervened to plead that the
Commission should not classify any document as secret or receive
anything in sealed envelopes. 

Lekhi's pointer was at the Orissa Police crime branch filed an
affidavit, marked "Confidential", which reportedly throws lot of
light on inside stories prior to the killing of the missionary
alongwith his two sons.

The Commission has so far received 83 affidavits, including
those from the Centre, the Orissa Government and from public. It
has also received an affidavit from the National Minorities
Commission. Also with the Commission is the report of the
National Human Rights Commission's Director-General D R
Karthikeyan, who had visited the killing site.

The Friday hearing was limited to directions to Orissa
Government's Advocate-General Jayant Das to distribute handbills
in Oriya in the district where the missionary was killed and
announce the Bhubaneshwar hearing dates and details on TV, AIR
and local newspapers.  END.
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