India, April 17 -- On Thursday, Mahendra Hembram, 50, walked out of prison 25 years after he was convicted of his role in burning alive Australian missionary Graham Staines, 58, and his sons aged 10 and seven as they slept in a station wagon in Odisha's Manoharpur.

Jailer Manaswini Naik said the State Sentence Review Board ordered Hembram's release because of good behaviour as per the rules. "The decision to release Hembram is part of our policy of releasing convicts who have spent 14 years behind bars."

Hembram, who was garlanded in recognition of good conduct in prison, linked the triple murder to religious conversion as he spoke to journalists after walking out of the jail.

Opposition Congress lawmaker Manickam Tagore questioned Hem...