CUTTACK: The brutal killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati which led to one of the worst communal violence in the state is back in focus after nearly 15 years with the Orissa High Court issuing notice to the state government to show cause why a CBI probe should not be ordered into his murder.
A high court lawyer and social activist Debashisha Hota filed a petition seeking a CBI probe into the “unsolved murder case” alleging that the state government had not taken interest to find out the real culprits, except for claiming that the Swami was killed by Maoists.
When the petition was taken up on Tuesday, Hota appeared in person and prayed for CBI probe to find out the real culprits in the interest of justice, equity and fair play. Taking note of it, the single judge bench of Justice Chittaranjan Dash issued notice to the state government to show cause why the probe should not be ordered into the killing of the Swami. Justice Dash posted the matter to March 5 and directed the state government to file its reply by then.
Unidentified gunmen had shot dead the 84-year-old Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008. The Swami’s murder was followed by widespread violence in the district. The subsequent riots claimed 38 lives, left hundreds injured and over 25,000 homeless.
The petition comes nine years after the Justice AS Naidu Commission submitted its report in December 2014. The judicial commission was appointed on September 8, 2008 to look into events and circumstances leading to the killing of the seer along with his four associates, and the subsequent violence. The commission submitted its report in 2015 but the state government is yet to make it public.
In his petition, Hota pointed out that the personnel security staff provided to the Swami by police went on leave without any substitute in the morning on the day of murder. Further, the armed CRPF personnel deployed at the ashram after attacks on the Swami in 2007 was withdrawn at 7.30 pm on August 23, 2008. Thereafter, 15 young masked men armed with AK 47 rifles and other sharp weapons could easily enter the ashram and kill the Swami along with four followers, the petition alleged.
“The state authorities did not hand over this serious matter to CBI to cause an enquiry and find out the real culprits of the pre-planned murder till now,” the petition said, adding, “Even the state authorities blamed Maoists just hours after the murder without any investigation into the incident.”