Opposition Slams Odisha Govt For Not Making Public Probe Panel Report On Laxmanananda Saraswati Murder

Bhubaneswar: Fifteen years have elapsed since VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed at Jalespata Ashram in Odisha’s Kandhamal district during Janmashtami celebrations.

The Odisha government had instituted a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice A S Naidu Commission of Inquiry to probe the assassination of Laxmanananda Saraswat. Though the Commission had submitted its report, the state government is yet to make the findings public.

The senior VHP leader and his four associates were killed when Janmashtami festival was being celebrate in the hermitage at Chakapada on August 23, 2008.

Targeting the BJD government in the state over the issue, opposition BJP and Congress on Wednesday sought to know as to why the report of the Inquiry Commission is yet to be made public.

Hitting out at the state government, state BJP vice president B N Tripathy said people should know the findings of the probe conducted by the Commission. However, so many years have passed, but the report remains a secret, he lamented, raising questions over the intention of the state government.

The BJP leader also accused the government of having failed to provide security to the VHP leader and his followers.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati BJD and BJP were running a coalition government when the VHP leader was killed. BJP was initially very happy when the Commission of Inquiry was formed, but subsequently it was dumped by BJD, he said.

The Congress legislator also sought to know as to why the state government is trying to suppress the report instead of making it public as people have every right to know the findings of the investigation conducted by the Commission.