Senior BJP leader Ashok Sahu launched an indefinite hunger strike near the Kandhamal district Collectorate here on Saturday demanding arrest of the conspirators and killers of Swami laxmanananda Saraswati.
It may be noted here that earlier Sahu had threatened to go on a fast unto death from August 22 if the killers of Swamiji were not brought to book. In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Sahu had said five-year was a long period to bring the culprits to book after the gruesome murder of the seer at his ashram in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008.
Sahu said violence that erupted soon after the Swamiji’s murder as a spontaneous outburst among his numerous disciples in Kandhamal district has been investigated and in many cases the trial is over but in the name of investigation, many poor and innocent tribals have been subjected to injustice as they failed to defend themselves. Sahu said the people of Odisha were defamed on false charges of communalism and the Prime Minister called it a national shame while addressing a foreign crowd abroad. Besides, 32 persons are languishing behind bars without trial in the alleged nun rape case, he said.