The Odisha Government has rejected the plea of Hindutva activist Ravindra Pal, alias Dara Singh, for premature release from prison in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in Keonjhar in 1999, officials said on Tuesday.Singh, who is serving life imprisonment, had made the appeal for his premature release from prison as he had already spent around 25 years in jail. The Supreme Court had asked the Odisha Government to take a decision in this regard.The state took the decision at a special meeting of the State Sentence Review Board (SSRB) on August 31, the officials said. The meeting resolved that “in view of certain facts and circumstances, the Board is not inclined to recommend his premature release at this stage”, they added.The government, while rejecting the plea, said Singh’s plea had earlier also been turned down by the SSRB — on November 24, 2016; June 24, 2019; December 24, 2020; January 12, 2022; and February 20, 2023 — “on various grounds, including the societal ramifications in apprehension of communal disturbance in the area”.