‘Laxmanananda not a VHP leader as projected in media’

BHUBANESWAR - Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal Monday said Swami Laxmanananda, whose murder triggered the Kandhamal riots in 2008, was not a VHP leader as projected in the media.

“Laxmanananda was not a VHP leader as it is often written in the media,” Singhal said here.

“He was a sant (ascetic). A sant is a sant and he can’t be a member of any party. He was working for the welfare of the Hindus,” he said.

He also lashed out at the centre and the state government for allowing an 11-member European Union team to visit the riot-hit Kandhamal.

Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread communal violence after the murder of Laxmanananda and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23, 2008.