RSS activist shot dead in Kandhmal

Bhubaneswar, Nov 5 (UNI) In a fresh spurt of violence in trouble-torn Kandhmal, an RSS activist was shot dead in Kumarigaon village under Brahmanigaon police station today.

Kandhmal Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar said it was too early to attribute the murder to communal tension in the strife torn district which witnessed one of the worst communal clashes following the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his associates on August 23.

Police said RSS activist Dhanu Pradhan was returning home when three miscreants opened fire killing him on the spot.

Senior police officials on hearing the news rushed to the spot with additional reinforcement. For over a fortnight Kandhmal had reported no untoward incident and the authority had lifted the curfew clamped in nine sensitive police station areas and withdrawn the prohibitory orders promulgated in the entire district since August 23.

Apprehending that the killing of the RSS activist would further escalate trouble in the district, police patrolling had been intensified in all the sensitive pockets to contain any further law and order problem.

UNI DP PL KLC1718