BHUBANESWAR: Members of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Memorial Committee urged the State Government to hand over the murder case of the seer to the CBI.
The Crime Branch of Police has failed to unravel the conspiracy behind the killing of Laxmanananda even after six years of the ghastly incident. The investigating police has proved its inefficiency by not being able to arrest all the accused, they said.
The seer was killed at his ashram at Jalespata under Tumudibandha police limits in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008 while celebrating Janmashtami. The assailants also gunned down four of his followers. The murder trigerred communal violence across the district.
The memorial committee held a meeting here on the sixth death anniversary of the seer. Former president of Kui Sanskrutika Parishad Padmanabha Pradhan alleged that from the beginning the State Government has been making an attempt to cover up the accused. The investigating agency is yet to trace the people who conspired to eliminate the seer.
The function, organised under chairmanship of Mansukhlal Sethia, delved into the issue of security of saints and demanded stringent punishment for the culprits behind the assassination of the seer.
Security was tightened at Chakapada and Jalespata Ashrams in Kandhamal district for the seer’s death anniversary and Janmashtami festival.
As a precautionary step, the district administration heightened security at sensitive pockets including Jalaspeta and Chakapada ashrams. No untoward incident was reported as police personnel were deployed in vulnerable areas of the district besides both the ashrams. Vehicles were frisked at entry points to the district as a precautionary measure.
Saints from different places joined in observing the seer’s death anniversary.