Thakurmunda, Aug. 28 :     Dara Singh, prime accused in the killings of an Australian missionary and his two sons in Manoharpur and a Muslim trader in Pariabeda, is back to haunt the state administration, which appears to have been caught off guard. Police sources said after the state government ?washed its hands of? the Manoharpur case by handing it over to the CBI a few months ago, the police became slack. The number of raids on Singh?s suspected hideouts in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts came down drastically as the police relied on the CBI to track him down. Singh?s deliberate decision to lie low also misled the police into believing that he was ?cornered? and may have fled to Uttar Pradesh, his home state. ?Just when we thought he was gone, he came out of nowhere and struck again,? an official conceded. The police pickets at different weekly haats in the region, introduced after the January 23 Manoharpur killings, were withdrawn recently. Though director-general of police Dilip Mohapatra yesterday denied pulling out the pickets, he could not explain why no policemen were present at Pariabeda haatwhen Singh and his gang killed 29-year-old Sheikh Rahman on Thursday. Traders belonging to the minority community said the police often ignored their complaints. ?Whenever we reported sighting Dara Singh, police officials asked us to give complaints in writing,? Sheikh Alauddin, owner of a stone-crushing unit, said. Alauddin said he and two others were on the ?hit-list? of the fanatic. ?After Rahman, I hear it is my turn to be killed as I incurred Dara?s wrath by sending my Sumo jeep to Manoharpur to take some church officials to Baripada a day after the Australian missionary was killed,? he said. ?But I sent my vehicle only at the request of the Mayurbhanj district administration,? Alauddin added. The two others on Singh?s ?hit list? are Sami Alim, a physician from Karanjia, and Shahid Hussain, a Congress activist from Thakurmunda. Both were unavailable for comment. Members of the minority community said Singh and his gang attacked several traders at different weekly markets over the past few years. They said trucks carrying cattle were also set ablaze after distribution of the livestock among non-minorities. However, the police never initiated action, they said. Demanding security, the minority community staged a demonstration when chief minister Giridhar Gamang and minister of state for home Prasad Harichandan visited Pariabeda today. Gamang later met representatives of the community at an inspection bungalow in Karanjia. The chief minister said the government was committed to protecting the minorities and efforts were being made to apprehend Singh. Gamang also visited Rahman?s home in Thakurmunda and met his family members. He announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the slain trader?s kin. Three persons have been detained for interrogation in connection with the killing. The Left and the Janata Dal (Secular) have called a 12-hour bandh in the state on Wednesday in protest against the incident.