Days before he was killed, Laxmanananda received a mail threatening to kill him, but the Kandhamal SP ignored the complaint. When the armed assailants came looking for Laxmanananda on August 23, the lathi-wielding policemen fled. While Naveen ran short of ideas, the state police force, never known for its efficiency, simply crumbled.

Naveen claimed, “The situation is under control.” But the Congress and other parties, including the BJP, scoffed at this statement. “The situation is neither normal nor volatile,” was what Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said after a whistlestop tour to a couple of villages in the affected district.

As the violence did not abate, the Central Government became increasingly frustrated with the state’s response and fearing that the situation was slipping out of control, the Supreme Court asked the Patnaik Government not to allow the Kalash Yatra of the VHP.

Though Naveen ordered a judicial probe while showing the door to the Kandhamal SP, it was a case of too little being done too late. “For the first time, people of the state have realised how incompetent he was as an administrator,” said political commentator Rabi Das.

The people of Kandhamal who had fled their homes would like to return to their villages. But having lost all their belongings to violence, they now fear for their lives. The BJP is viewing him with mistrust as they see a clear pattern of Naveen gagging Sangh Parivar outfits.