Hearing an earlier petition, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday issues a notice seeking a clarification from the Odisha Government as to why a CBI inquiry should not be conducted into the sensational killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati at Jalespata Ashram in Chakapada of Kandhamal district fifteen years ago.
A High Court Single-Judge Bench fixed the next date of hearing for March 5, 2024.
Petitioner’s advocate Debashisha Hota has sought a CBI inquiry into the alleged murder. According to him, the murder of the Swamiji was pre-planned, which has 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, he maintains.
Though more than 15 years have passed, the Odisha Government has yet to make public the report submitted by the 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.
