Murder of Lakshmanananda Saraswati

Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a leader of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) — a subsidiary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — was killed along with four of his disciples on 23 August 2008, during the Janmashtami festival, at the Kanya Ashram, a residential girls' school in Tumudibandh, Kandhamal district, Odisha. The ashram housed 130 girls at the time, many of whom were reported by The Indian Express to have witnessed the attack. A group of 30 to 40 armed men, four of them carrying AK-47s and others with locally made revolvers, surrounded the compound. Of the four government-provided security guards assigned to the ashram, two had left to eat and the remaining two were tied and gagged by the assailants.

The killing set off widespread civil disorder. As Saraswati's funeral procession passed through areas with Catholic populations, riots broke out and Catholics were targeted, including some who belonged to Scheduled Castes; Hindu supporters of the Indian National Congress were also attacked in some places. Participants in the violence reportedly included activists of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, other Sangh Parivar organisations, and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, then the ruling party in Odisha under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The Kui Samaj, representing both Hindu and Protestant members of the Kondh tribal community, was allied with the groups involved in the attacks.

The investigation produced competing narratives. Police initially arrested a World Vision employee while he attempted to leave the district, and separately arrested two more men at the home of a local Catholic activist; both reportedly admitted joining a larger group of assailants. A letter purportedly from a Maoist unit denied central approval for the attack but suggested some Maoists may have been paid by Pano Catholics to carry it out. Maoist leader Azad subsequently claimed personal responsibility, and on 9 September 2008 the CPI (Maoist) issued an official statement claiming the killing, with leader Sabyasachi Panda stating the group carried out the attack at the Jalespeta ashram. In March 2009, police arrested a CPI (Maoist) Central Committee and Politburo member in connection with the case. A later police reconstruction, based on the account of a surrendered Maoist, described a six-member team led by Azad (alias Duna Keshav Rao) carrying out the killings after encountering four policemen who fled. Despite these claims, doubts about the official version persisted among some investigators and experts on left-wing extremism, who viewed the resolution of the case as disputed.

On 30 September 2013, an Additional District and Sessions Court in Phulbani, presided over by Judge Rajendra Kumar Tosh, convicted seven Pano Catholics for the murders: Gadanath Chalanseth, Bijaya Kumar Shyamseth, Buddha Nayak, Sanatan Badamajhi, Duryadhan Sunamajhi, Bhaskar Sunamajhi, and Munda Badamajhi. Days later, the same court acquitted five people tried for burning a Catholic house during the riots that followed the murder. Sajan George of the Global Council of Indian Christians alleged bias against Dalit Catholics, and defence lawyer S. K. Padhi indicated an appeal would be filed in the Odisha High Court.