PTI 
 
Baripada, Sep 22: Eight years after the murder of a Catholic priest, a local court on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment four persons, including Dara Singh, convicted for killing Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons.

District Judge Sachidanand Sinha, while convicting the four, acquitted 17 others, accused in the case relating to the murder of father Arul Das on September 1, 1999 at Jamubani in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa for lack of evidence.

Besides Dara, the court found Jadunath Mohanto, Cheemma Ho and Rajkishore Mohanto guilty after examining 23 witnesses during hearing of the case the trial for which had begun on September 8, 2004.

According to the prosecution in the case probed by the crime branch of Orissa Police, Das was attacked and chased by the accused and attacked with arrows while attending a function in the intervening night.

The High Court had awarded life term to Dara Singh for burning to death Graham Staines and his minor sons, Philip and Timothy, outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on January 22, 1999.