New Delhi: In a daring attack, suspected Naxals attacked an ashram run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Kandhamal district of Orissa and killed five people on Friday night.
VHP leader and the chief of the ashram, Lakshmananda Saraswati, was among those killed.
Ashram sources say Saraswati had reportedly received a threatening letter from the Naxals on Friday morning.
The letter was reportedly posted on August 9 and received at the Ashram on August 22, the Kendra claimed in a statement adding that a complaint in this regard was lodged at Tumudibandha police station.
In January 2008, violence had erupted in Kandhamal after Christian missionaries were attacked allegedly by Hindu groups.
Saraswati had been a prominent force in the Hindu camp at that time.
Though police were not willing to reveal much for the fear of a communal backlash, DGP (Orissa), GC Nanda, told news agencies an alert has been sounded in Kandhamal and additional police forces have been rushed to the spot.
"I have received reports of five deaths. However, I have to re-check before confirming the death of Saraswati," Nanda told PTI.
However, according to Subhash Chouhan, the national convenor of Bajrang Dal, Saraswati was among the five persons killed in the incident.
The victims include two inmates of the ashram, Chouhan said.
The incident took place at Laxmananda's kanyashram at Tumudibandh, about 100 km from Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhmal district.
Home Secretary T K Mishra asked the Centre to rush two additional battalions of para-military force to the tribal-dominated district.
"I spoke to the union Home Secretary to rush additional forces and allow extension of the stay of seven companies of CRPF which had been deployed in the district since December, 2007 when communal violence had broken out there," he told PTI.
PAGE_BREAK
Red terror rewind
On July 16, at least 17 police officials died when a landmine planted by Naxals exploded in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, some 600 km south of state capital Bhubaneshwar.
Special Operations Group members were travelling in a van on the Kalimela-Motu road when the landmine exploded under them. Two of the dead were police inspectors. The first reports from the spot had put the number of dead at 24.
On the same day, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta held a meeting with chief secretaries and police chiefs of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to review the Maoist situation.
Gupta said the meeting reviewed the progress of implementation of the integrated action plans aimed at curbing Maoist influence in these states.
“In overall terms, visible improvement has been seen in various parameters relating to the security situation in the Naxal-affected states this year as compared to last year barring a few major incidents,” Gupta told reporters after the meeting.
(With inputs from CNN-IBN and agencies)
Comments
0 comment