Cuttack, April 21: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday directed the State Government to submit a ‘status report’ detailing the progress made till date with regard to the investigation into the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati who was murdered along with four of his disciples during a prayer meeting at Jalespeta Ashram in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008.
A single-judge bench of Justice Kumari Sanju Panda asked the Crime Branch to submit the status report by May 4 and fixed the case to be heard next on that day, informed the petitioner advocate Sarbeswar Behera who had filed a writ in the court in July 2009 seeking an impartial enquiry by an independent agency into the sensational murder of a Hindu spiritual leader.
Behera on Wednesday had engaged senior Supreme Court lawyer MN Krishnamani who argued in the court saying that there were a lot of discrepancies in the Crime Branch inquiry into the case. Vehemently urging the High Court to order for a CBI inquiry into the case, the SC lawyer informed the court that the Crime Branch had not made any significant progress in the case and was now trying to dilute the sensational murder case.
“While the FIR in the case stated that at least 20 to 30 persons covering their faces in masks barged into the Ashram and fired at the Swamiji, the police have now managed to arrest only seven persons in this case. Similarly, when the trial in the case has already began, the police have not yet filed the final chargesheet,” Krishnamani told the High Court apprehending that the prosecution is trying to built up a soft case thereby facilitating the culprits to escape from punishment.
He also brought to the notice of the High Court that the Crime Branch have not brought the reported resolution passed by a local church into the purview of investigation. Members of Beticola Parish Church Council of Baliguda had reportedly passed a resolution prior to the incident that Swamiji would be killed.
–Agencies–