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Murder of Swami Lakshmanananda and four others occurred in August 2008 in Indian state of Orissa. Swami Lakshmanananda was a Hindu monk who opposed the Christian missionary activities and organised reconversions of the tribals . He was earlier subject to many attacks. As PTI reported, a prominent Maoist leader said that there was pressure from both Christians and Dalits to eliminate him as he was not paid any attention to Maoist's warning of desisting from anti-Christian activities. He was also accused by Maoists for creating a riot in December 2007 and subsequently targeted people indulging in cow slaughter, adding opposition from people of both the communities.
Murder
He was killed at his kanyashram (Girls school) at Tumudibandh, about 100 km from Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhamal district. Four others including a boy were also killed.
The murder was committed on the Kanya Ashram (a residential school) which housed 130 girls on the day of the Janmashtami festival. A group of 30-40 armed men surrounded the Ashram. Four of the assailants carried AK-47s and many others had locally made revolvers. Two of the four government provided security guards had gone home to eat. The assailants tied and gagged the two remaining guards.
Many of the girls were eyewitnesses to the killing of the swami, as reported by Indian Express
Investigations
The government announced a special investigative probe into the attack.
However, Hindu groups in the state, including the BJP, blamed Christians for killing Lakshmananand. They cited Lakshmanananda's claims that Christians were trying to eliminate him for his opposition to conversion, and had attacked him eight times before. He was regularly receiving death threats and the last threat letter had been submitted to the Police only the day before the murder.
The Orissa state crime branch police team, has released computerized sketches of two suspects believed to be behind the brutal attack.
On August 28, a letter of denial was received by a some media outlets, the VHP office in the Gajapati District of Orissa and the Bajrang Dal from a Maoist group. While the letter denied that the Central Committee of the Kotagarha branch of the Maoists had approved the attack, it claimed that some Maoists may have been bribed by Christians to launch the attack. Sources within the police force have said that Maoists could have carried out the operation to appease their Christian support base. Soon after the appearance of the aforementioned letter, Azad, a leader of the Maoist People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, claimed responsibility for the murder of Lakshmanananda. Azad was suspected by the police of leading the attack himself. On September 9, 2008 the Maoists, who work underground, made an official press release claiming responsibility for the killing of Lakshmanananda. Many Maoist sympathizers of south Orissa had initially denied the role of CPI-Maoist in the murder of VHP leaders that sparked off communal violence in Kandhamnal district. . Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader Sabyasachi Panda claimed that they killed Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples at his Jalespeta ashram on 23 August .
On 6 October 6 2008, the Orissa police announced they arrested two Christian tribal's in connection with the murder of Swami. The CID official said that about seven to eight Maoist hardliners were also involved in the murder. .
On 16th October in an in interview to PTI the IG police Mr Arun Ray told that "Maoists were given money to train certain youth of a particular community to eliminate Saraswati," The plan to eliminate Saraswati was made immediately after the December, 2007 communal violence in Kandhamal, he added. Elaborating the probe by the crime branch, Ray said investigations also showed that a group had collected money from some villages in Kandhamal which was given to the Maoist group to train their youth for the purpose. The police said that they already arrested three persons who belong to the extremist groups and efforts were now on to arrest the other accused.
References
- http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/05orissa1.htm
- Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, four others shot dead The Economic Times - August 24, 2008
- http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/28orissa1.htm Who killed Swami Lakshmanananda? Krishnakumar P, August 28, 2008
- http://www.indianexpress.com/story/354813.html Trauma in ashram, schoolgirls witnessed Swami’s murder
- Orissa announces judicial probe into murder of VHP leaders The Hindu - August 24, 2008
- Protests in Orissa over killing of VHP leader NDTV - August 24, 2008
- http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/11/stories/2008091152750300.htm Sketches of suspects of Swami Lakshmanananda murder released
- Maoists deny role in VHP leader’s murder The Hindu - August 29, 2008]
- Kandhmal: Mystery surrounds Swami's death NDTV - September 4, 2008
- "Maoists claim they killed 'fascist' VHP leader in Orissa". Times of India. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- "CPI Maoists claim VHP leader's killing". NDTV. September 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082952080300.htm
- "Maoists claim responsibility for killing of VHP leader" (Press release). The Hindu. October 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- "We killed Swami, Maoists say again" (Press release). The Times of India. October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- 'Majority of Maoist supporters in Orissa are Christians' The Hindu - October 5, 2008
- 3 arrested in Laxmanananda murder case Indian Express - October 7, 2008
- Maoists were hired to kill Laxmanananda: Police Press Trust of India - October 16, 2008
- "Maoists hired to kill Laxmanandas Orissa police" (Press release). Rediff. 17 October, 2008.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|Author=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/17/stories/2008101757661200.htm