Saraswati rejected govt security: Kanodia

Bhubaneswar, Sept 22 (PTI) Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, whose killing last year
had triggered riots, had rejected police request to deploy of
security personnel within the campus of Jalespeta ashram on
the grounds that it would not suit its atmosphere.

This was stated by Nikhil Kumar Kanodia, the then
Kandhamal SP, before the inquiry commission probing the
killing of Saraswati and four others on August 23 and
incidents of violence in its aftermath.

"We wanted to keep armed guards for patrolling-cum
protection duty for Saraswati and unarmed guards within the
ashram campus for elaborate safety measures. But, it was
straightway rejected by Saraswati", Kanodia said in his
affidavit to the one-man judicial commission headed by Justice
S C Mohapatra.

Kanodia, who was immediately suspended from duty after
the killing of Saraswati, also informed the inquiry commission
that he wanted security inside the premises of Jalespeta
ashram in Kandhamal as it was located in a secluded place.

However, this could not be done due to "total
non-cooperation" of Saraswati, he said. MORE PTI