Church denies role in Laxmananda killing,threatens to sue HJS

Bhubaneswar, Oct 09 (UNI) The Bethikala Paris Council (BPC) in Kandhmal today threatened to file criminal and civil cases against Hindu Jagaran Samukhya (HJS) Presdident Ashok Sahu for blaming the church playing a ''key role in the assassination of VHP Leader Swami Laxcmananda Saraswati''.

BPC general secretary Prafulla Kumar Nayak and president father Prafulla Kumar Sabhapati told newspersons here that the HJS president has produced a forged and baseless document of a proceedings of the church to claim that the church was involved in the criminal activities and associated with the killing of Swamiji.

They said a legal notice has been served on Mr Sahu by the Church and producing a forged and misleading document before the press top tarnish the image of the church before the eyes of the general public Mr Nayak said his signature in the document was forged and clamed that the language used in the document was misleading.

Father Kalathi also maintained that translation of the document produced before the press was malicious.

Both of them claimed that no meeting was held in the church on May 25 last as claimed by the HJS president and condemned the attitude of the Hindu Fundamentalist organization in dragging the Christians and the Church into the crime purposefully by fanning elements of hate to sustain the campaign against the Christians.

HJS president Ashok Kumar Sahu had released a document at a news conference here on October 6 last showing the proceedings of the general body meeting, BPC held at the Betikola Catholic Abbey in Kandhmal on May 25 to prove his allegation that the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was a ''pre planned conspiracy executed by the church'' and not by the Maoists.

He said the xerox copies of the proceedings of the BPC meetings were handed over to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on September 9 by VHP president Ashok Singhal during his Orissa visit.

The HJS president alleged that the resolutions taken at the meeting clearly indicated that the Bethikala Parish Council wanted to sacrifice the activist who stand opposed to the expansion of the work of all the abbey circles and decided to execute the decision on August 23,2008.

Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples were killed by some unknown assailants on the night of August 23 inside the Jalaspeta Ashram in Kandhmal district.

Mr Sahu said a decision was also taken in that meeting to conduct victory celebration in all the Abbey circles of the Parish after successful completion of the task.

UNI DP RH DB1819