Home > States CPI Maoists claim responsibility for killing VHP leader

Kandhmal, Sept 09: In a move that might worsen situation in violence-hit Orissa, the banned CPI Maoists on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and four others.

According to reports, the banned Naxalite group has accused the slain VHP leader of communal politics in the region in a press release.

The fresh claims made by the Naxal group is likely to come as a big relief for the Christian community of the state, which has been pleading innocence over Saraswati’s unfortunate death and the violence, which followed.

However, there has been no response from the state government over the CPI Maoists’ claim.

85-year-old Laxmanananda Saraswati, who had been working among tribals against religious conversion, was gunned down by unidentified assailants at an ashram for girls at Jalespeta in Tumudibandh block.

The VHP leader’s murder had triggered a massive wave of violence between the saffron brigade and Christians in Kandhmal district of Orissa.

The BJP leadership had also accused the Orissa Police of failing to protect Saraswati and the state government for denying a 'Z plus' security for him