Bhubaneswar: Three more accused persons in the Australian missionary Graham Staines murder case denied their involvement in the crime before a designated court on March 25.

Kartik Lohar, Anirudha Dandapat alias Andha Nayak and Surath Nayak told the court of Khurda district and sessions judge M N Patnaik that they had been falsely implicated in the case.

Statements of prime accused Dara Singh, Rajat Kumar Das and Mahendra Hembram had been recorded by the court on March 24 in which they had denied any role in the crime.

Staines and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy were brutally burnt to death at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district on the night of January 22, 1999.

The three accused persons, whose version was recorded by the court under provision of section 313 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), were confronted with the earlier statements of prosecution witnesses.

To most questions, their reply was either "I don't know" or "not true".

PTI