Mahendra Hembram, one of the convicts in the 1999 high-profile triple murder case of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, was released from Keonjhar jail in Odisha on Wednesday after serving 25 years.
Now 50 years old, Hembram was released from the prison on grounds of good behaviour during his incarceration.
"Hembram has been released following a decision by the State Sentence Review Board. The prison directorate informed about it in a letter on Tuesday. He has been released after 25 years because of good behaviour in accordance with the rules," said Jailer Manaswini Naik.
Jail authorities gave Hembram a cordial farewell, garlanding him as a mark of recognition for his good conduct during his prison term.
An official said Hembram was handed over a bank passbook, where his earnings from prison labour had been deposited.
"I spent 25 years in jail after being falsely implicated in an incident related to religious conversion. Today, I have been released," Hembram told reporters outside the jail.
Hembram and Dara Singh, alias Rabindra Pal Singh, were convicted of the brutal murders of Staines and his sons Philip (10) and Timothy (6) who were burned alive by a mob allegedly led by Singh on the night of January 21, 1999.
The victims were sleeping in a station wagon parked in front of a church in Keonjhar district's Manoharpur village, when the attack took place, triggering national and international outrage.
It was alleged that the Staines had spread straw over the vehicle to shield themselves from the cold, and the straw caught fire. -- PTI
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