Orissa on alert after killing of VHP leaders

BHUBANESWAR, AUGUST 24: Orissa was on alert on Sunday as the Sangh Parivar called a 12-hour bandh over the killing of five people, including four prominent VHP leaders, in Kandhamal district on Saturday night. The Government announced a judicial probe into the killings while the officer in-charge of Tumudibandh police station in the district was suspended.

Police said around 30 armed men attacked an ashram in Jalespata near Kandhamal at 9.15 pm on Saturday, killing Kishore Pradhan, Maa Bhaktimayee, Swami Amrutananda and prominent VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.

Kandhamal district authorities clamped night-long curfew in three sensitive towns as the Sangh Parivar insisted on carrying the body of Swami Laxmanananda through these places. The body will be taken to the Swami's main ashram at Chakapada, covering a distance of about 70 km.

The state has ordered educational institutions closed in view of the bandh.

Home Secretary T K Mishra said there was a “strong” possibility of Maoist involvement in the incident. “The manner in which they attacked and the kind of arms used indicated it was the handiwork of Maoists,” Mishra said, ruling out any communal angle.

A member of the VHP's Kendariya Mangadarshak Mandalam, Saraswati was well-known in the area for organising conversion of tribals to Hinduism and leading a campaign against cow slaughter. He was the main force behind the Sangh Parivar's popularity in the region. At the Jalespata ashram where he was killed, he ran a residential hostel for tribal girl students.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said combing operations had already begun in Kandhamal and the next of kin of those killed would be given an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each.

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