New Delhi: The cabinet Wednesday extensively discussed the situation in Orissa but no decision could be taken on banning the Bajrang Dal for its alleged involvement in attacks on Christians in the state as Home Minister Shivraj Patil maintained that more evidence needed to be gathered against the organisation, informed sources said.

As directed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Patil briefed the cabinet on the situation in the state and said more time was needed for fixing the Bajrang Dal s involvement in the violence that has claimed 35 lives and led to thousands others being rendered homeless.

The prime minister's directive had come at the previous cabinet meeting Friday. The cabinet also could not come to a decision on sending a central team to study the ground situation in Orissa s Kandhamal district, which has been on the boil since the Aug 23 killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.

A Maoist leader has claimed responsibility for the killing but mobs apparently led by Bajrang Dal activists have allegedly been targeting Christians since then, blaming them for the killing. The central government had last month sent an advisory to the Orissa government asking it to quickly restore normalcy in Kandhamal district.

Similar advisories were also sent to the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, where too Christian churches have been vandalised.