NEW DELHI: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia Sunday threatened to launch nationwide stir if the killers of a Hindu leader and his four associates shot dead in Orissa August 23 were not arrested immediately.

The VHP international general secretary demanded that a special bench be set up for hearing the case of murders of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and his four disciples whose killings sparked off widespread communal violence in Orissa.

The police said that Maoists rebels were responsible for the killings. But blaming Christians for the murders, thousands of Hindus attacked Christian homes and churches in the state. Christian groups have repeatedly denied the charge.

Togadia, speaking at a meeting at Karol Bagh to pay tributes of the slain Hindu leader, alleged that the Orissa government was trying to shield murderers of Saraswati. He said the government has not even identified the names of the four suspects arrested in the case.

Saraswati was a VHP leader and lived in Jalespata Ashram under Tumudibandh block in Kandhamal district of Orissa.

Source : IANS