Thursday, May 19 2005 19:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baripada (Orissa): Dara Singh, who received a major reprieve this morning (May 19, 2005) when the Orissa High Court commuted the death sentence awarded to him in the Graham Staines murder case to life imprisonment, said he would approach the Supreme Court seeking his acquittal.

''I am very happy at the outcome, but I will go to the Supreme Court for acquittal,'' Dara's lawyer Asit Otta quoted him as saying.

''I have full faith in the judiciary,'' he said. Dara is in the Circle jail in Baripada as he is facing trial in three other murder cases including the killing of Catholic priest Arul Doss at Jamubani village in Mayurbhanj district, trader Shaikh Rehman at the Padiabeda weekly market and the helper of a truck carrying cattle.

Two other convicts in the Staines case, Umakanta Bhoi and Dipu alias Rajat Kumar Das, who were acquitted by the High Court, are also in the Circle jail in Baripada. Das is also being tried for his alleged involvement in the Arul Doss and Rehman cases.