CBI probe sought into Swami Laxmanananda murder; HC directs Odisha govt to respond

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.

“Odisha Crime Branch has ignored four different angles when probing into the murder case. A proper investigation was not done; rather, the probe agency submitted its one-sided inquiry report. Single-Judge Bench of Justice Chittaranjan Dash heard my prayer seeking a CBI inquiry and directed the State government to respond as to why a CBI inquiry should not be conducted,” the petitioner said.

“The State and Central governments, CBI, Director General of Police (DGP)-Odisha, Crime Branch and Biswa Sambad Kendra, Bhubaneswar, are the parties in the petition,” advocate Hota expressed.

Odisha Govt was ordered to respond in this regard on or before March 5, the petitioner added.

More than fifteen years have passed but the 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.