Odisha BJP unit demands CBI probe into VHP leader Saraswati murder case

Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP on Wednesday asked the Odisha government to make the judicial commission reports on the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati public and hand over the case to the CBI for a detailed probe.

The demand was made by senior BJP lawmaker and leader of opposition Jaynarayan Mishra at a press conference here.

The opposition party’s demand came a day after the Orissa High Court issued a notice to the state government to file a counter affidavit by March 5 on a petition seeking a CBI probe into the killing of Saraswati and four of his disciples in 2008.

Welcoming the high court notice, Mishra said, "Three judicial commissions have probed the Saraswati murder case. However, the state government did not make these reports public for some unknown reasons, might be to shield the culprits."

Saraswati, who was strongly opposed to religious conversions, was gunned down along with four disciples on August 23, 2008 at his Japespata ashram in Kandhamal district. They were celebrating Janmastami when the armed men opened fired at them, Mishra said.

The leader of opposition also lashed out at the state government for not ‘providing’ security to Saraswati even after he faced a murder attempt on December 25, 2007.

Mishra alleged that personnel providing security to Saraswati were on leave on the night when he was targeted. He said almost 15 years after Saraswati’s killing, the state government is yet to make the interim report submitted by Justice (retd) Sarat Mohapatra and the final report by Justice (retd) A S Naidu public.

He alleged that there was a major conspiracy behind not making public the reports of the inquiry commissions. "The main culprits and conspirators of the case are still roaming freely. The government must expose them through a CBI probe," Mishra said.

Senior BJD leader and former minister Padmanav Behera said the state government as per the HC direction will certainly put its views on the investigation done by the crime branch of police.

The allegation that the commission reports have been suppressed is baseless, Behera claimed.

The murder of the seer had led to large-scale communal violence in Kandhamal and some other parts of the state, claiming around 40 lives, besides destruction of hundreds of houses.