Tribal groups involved in priest killing

A strong mob of 15 tribals, armed with bows and arrows, attacked Fr Doss while he was asleep inside the make-shift church in the village and other tribal Christians were dancing outside the church, celebrating the Nuakhai harvest festival.

The Father was taking rest after attending the function of the Christian tribals when the armed miscreants entered the house and attacked him. Doss tried to escape, but in vain. An arrow released from a miscreant8217;s bow hit his chest. He fell down and was beaten to death in the dead of the night in the village, situated in a dense forest.

The tribal Christians ran away as they were also attacked and threatened. There were only 14 Christian families in the village, while some more tribal Christians from the neighbouring villages had joined them in the function.

The Father, who hails from Tamil Nadu, came to Orissa five years ago and was initially posted at the Labanyadeipur Church under Sarat Police Station.

As the area was thickly populated by converted tribal Christians, Doss was very unpopular among the local people. The Father was then transferred to Roman Catholic Church at Sarangi under Anandpur sub-division of Keonjhar district.

But the priest used to visit the villages of Mayurbhanj district under the Mahuldiha Police Station at regular intervals, as he was more popular among the tribal Christians in these areas.

Jamubeni village, situated on the foothills of Simlipal forest, is surrounded by forests and is inaccessible. A visitor has to cross River Salandi to trek a distance of about 17 km from the Mahuldiha Police Station to reach the village.

Although it was not immediately known why the Catholic priest was made a target, sources said he became the victim of the cultural conflict between the converted tribal Christians and the non-converted tribals.

The tribal Christians of Jamubeni were so frightened that they were unable to divulge anything about the incident fearing further attack on them.

The police have launched house-to-house search in the nearby villages to nab the criminals involved in the gruesome murder. A sniffer-dog was also pressed into service, but it could not trek the miscreants due to heavy rains yesterday.

Although the involvement of Rabindra Kumar Pal, alias Dara Singh, the prime accused in the murder of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons and also the Muslim trader, was yet to be ascertained, the use of bows and arrows and traditional weapons for the killing of the priest inside the village prove that some tribal groups were involved in the crime.

Mayurbhanj District Superintendent of Police Pradeep Kapoor, district collector R Balkrishnan, Special Inspector General of Police Law and Order Amarananda Patnaik and Deputy Inspector General of Police Western Range Binaya Behera have all rushed to the area along with a posse of armed police and started the investigation.

Meanwhile, sources said the body of Doss was taken to Anandpur for post-mortem, from where it would be taken to Balasore for cremation there tomorrow.