The commission of inquiry, instituted under Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, will be headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge and will be asked to submit its report within two months. ``The Chief Justice of India will be requested to nominate a judge to conduct the inquiry,'' said Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan after a meeting of the Union Cabinet.

The ministerial team, deputed by the Prime Minister to make an on-the-spot assessment of the incident, sought to absolve the Union Government or any of its affiliates. Addressing a press conference here this afternoon along withHuman Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Steel and Mines Minister Naveen Patnaik, leader of the team Defence Minister George Fernandes claimed there was a larger conspiracy to destabilise the ruling coalition at the Centre.

``There was no tension in the area. There were no conversions. We were told by everyone that relations between Christian and non-Christian tribals in Manoharpur have been generally cordial. It is not clear what was the motive behind the crime,'' observed Fernandes.

The Defence Minister saw the incident as ``a part of the campaign that has been going on against the Vajpayee Government.'' ``Someone had decided at some point of time that the man had to be killed in order to paint everyone as communal to crucify the Government,'' Fernandes added.

Asked whether there was a political party behind this, he replied: ``I can see not just a political party, but a whole lot of forces which would like this Government to go. It is clear that Orissa was chosen for committingthe crime by those who are concerned in damning the Government.''

Asked whether there was an international conspiracy, he said: ``It is clear that internal forces are acting in cahoot with foreign forces and external forces are acting in cahoot with internal forces.''

``The gruesome crime was committed in a state ruled by the Congress party and in which the man named Dara Singh was allowed to roam freely despite several FIRs being registered against him,'' the Defence Minister said, adding, ``A point made by some people in Manoharpur is that Dara Singh has been close to the local MLA Jaidev Jena, who is also a minister in the State Government.''

The ministerial team virtually gave a clean chit to the Bajrang Dal. ``The district collector who should have been in the know of things did not say anything. He did not name any organisation,'' Fernandes pointed out.