BHUBANESHWAR, India (AP) -- The suspected leader of a mob that burned to death an Australian missionary and his two young sons was arrested Tuesday as he negotiated to buy a gun, police said.
Suspected Hindu militant Dara Singh had been sought by police throughout the eastern Indian state of Orissa since Jan. 23, 1999, when Graham Staines, 58, and his children were burned to death as they slept in their off-road vehicle after a Bible study in Manoharpur village.Despite a $23,250 bounty on Singh's head, Hindu villagers had been protecting and hiding him since the mob attack, police have said.
Staines had worked since 1965 with leprosy patients in the area. His widow, Gladys, and 14-year-old daughter, Esther, have remained in India.
The killing of the Baptist missionary and his sons -- Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8 -- set off a national debate about the growing strength of the Hindu militant movement. Some Hindu leaders have accused Christians -- especially missionaries -- of fooling illiterate tribal people into converting. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said there was no evidence of forced conversions to Christianity in India, where churches have for centuries run hospitals and schools.
Mrs. Staines surprised many Indians, and gained their admiration, when immediately after the funeral she said she forgave the killers. Mrs. Staines is now attempting to open a hospital for reconstructive surgery for leprosy victims.
After hearing of Singh's arrest, she told The Associated in a phone interview from the southern city of Bangalore: "We've been able to go on with our lives as much as you can when you've lost your family. We haven't really spent a lot of time thinking about Dara Singh."
On Sunday, she launched the second edition of her book, "Burned Alive," a work documenting the killings and her family's missionary work.
In other religious violence since the Staines killings, a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Arul Doss, and Muslim trader Sheikh Rahman were killed in gang attacks in Orissa. Police suspect Singh and his men in both killings.
Y.B. Khurania, police superintendent of the district where the Staines were killed, said police received information that Singh was looking for a gun. Through an informant, police lured Singh to a spot in a forest, Khurania told independent Star News television.
"While negotiations were going on between the decoy and Dara Singh, we managed to surround him and capture him," said Khurania, who led a special squad making the arrest.
Earlier, A. Patnaik, the police inspector-general of law and order for Orissa, told The Associated Press in the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, that Singh was sleeping in a house in Gohira village when police surrounded it and arrested him.
At least 16 other people have been arrested in the Staines case.
Christian organizations charged that Singh was connected to political and cultural movements affiliated with the party of Vajpayee. A government investigating commission found no link.
There have been more than 50 clashes in the last year between Hindu militant groups and Christian evangelists, in western and eastern India.