Bhubaneswar: Voicing concern over the missing of an inquiry commission report on the 2008 Kandhamal riots from the Odisha Chief Minister’s Office, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Smruti Nyas (SLSSN) has urged state government to trace and make public the probe reports for ensuring transparency.
The demand was raised by a delegation of the SLSSN which met Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on June 14, the organisation said in a statement on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the delegation stressed that the interim report submitted by Justice Sarat Chandra Mohapatra and the final report of the Justice Basudev Panigrahi Commission be made public so that people of Odisha can be made aware of the factual findings related to the 2008 violence, it said.
Notably, Justice Sarat Chandra Mohapatra was appointed as a one-man commission to probe the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and the subsequent violence in Kandhamal in 2008. However, he passed away in 2012 before submitting his final report.
Following his demise, the inquiry was transferred to Justice AS Naidu, who submitted the final report, which was later reported to have gone missing from the CMO during the previous BJD government.
An FIR has been lodged by the Home Department in this regard at the Capital Police Station, officials said.
However, before his death, Justice Mohapatra had submitted a 28-page interim report July 1, 2009, recommending measures to prevent the recurrence of violence in Kandhamal.
Prior to the 2008, Kandhamal had witnessed an attack on Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in 2007 and a clash during Christmas celebrations, following which the state government had appointed the Justice Basudev Panigrahi Commission, which submitted its report in 2015.
SLSSN has now demanded that both commission reports be made public.
The delegation also submitted a memorandum to the chief minister expressing concern over reports regarding the missing document, stating that it had caused anxiety and apprehension among people.
The delegation also urged the CM to take immediate steps to trace and recover the missing commission report within a definite timeframe and initiate exemplary action against any official or individual found responsible for negligence or dereliction of duty.
SLSSN is a socio-religious organisation headquartered in Bhubaneswar. It is dedicated to the legacy of Saraswati and advocates for the tribal communities of Odisha, working against religious conversions and promoting the preservation of traditional values.
