Cuttack: Hearing an earlier petition, the Orissa High Court in Cuttack today sought clarification from the Odisha Government as to why a CBI inquiry should not be conducted into the sensational killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati at Jalespata Ashram in Chakapada of Kandhamal district.
The High Court’s Single-Judge Bench fixed the next date of hearing for March 5, 2024.
Petitioner advocate Debashisha Hota had sought a CBI inquiry into the alleged murder. He found that the murder of the Swamiji was pre-planned, which remained unsolved for years. Moreover, the probe agencies are allegedly not taking an interest in finding out the real culprits in the killing of Swamiji.
More than fifteen years have passed but the Odisha Government has yet to make public the report submitted by Justice AS Naidu Commission of Inquiry which probed into the cold-blooded murder.
The senior VHP leader and his four associates were killed in the hermitage on August 23, 2008.
“When will Swami Laxmanananda’s killers be brought to justice?” many inmates questioned.
“Swamiji’s murder is a delicate issue involving the sentiments of millions of people. However, the Inquiry Commission’s report has not been brought to the limelight. The issue is being debated every year and forgotten with the passage of time,” lamented Ashram chief Swami Krushnananda Saraswati.
