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Bhubaneswar: Expressing deep concern over the alleged repeated death threats issued by some anonymous caller to Swami Jivanmuktananda Puri, the successor of spiritual leader late Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and the chief of the Kanya Ashram at Jalespata in Kandhamal district, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday demanded full proof security arrangements for him.
Addressing a press conference, the VHP Odisha unit came down heavily on the Odisha government and accused it of not taking action against the main culprits involved in Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati's killing in 2008.
VHP State Vice-President Pandit Mahesh Sahu said, "The anonymous caller should be immediately arrested and stern action should be taken against him/her. Besides, the security arrangements for swamiji should be increased. In case any untoward incident occur, an emergency situation will be created and the State government will be held responsible for it," adding that the Vishva Hindu Parishad will not tolerate any violence towards the 'sadhus' and 'sanths' and therefore the concerned authorities should take immediate action to ensure swamiji's safety.
"We request the State government and CM Naveen Patnaik to intervene into the matter so that the culprits are arrested at the earliest and our ashram runs smoothly without any fear," said another member of the State unit of VHP, Anand Pandey.
The monk has received two threat calls in 24 hours that left has left the members of the VHP and the ashram worried.
The first call came on Saturday at around 5.30 pm in which the anonymous caller claimed himself to be affiliated to a Naxal organisation and threatened to end his life and blow up the ashram. Another call with similar threats came today at around 9 am.
The chief of Gurukul Sanskrit Kanya ashram, Swami Jivanmuktananda Puri has lodged a formal complaint at Timudibandha Police Station, about 125 km from the district headquarters Phulbani town, seeking security after receiving the threat calls.
Following the complaint, police have tightened security in the ashram by deploying armed forces. A bomb squad has also been engaged in checking the places inside the ashram as the caller had also threatened to blow up the entire establishment.
"Armed forces have been deployed inside the ashram and patrolling has been intensified. The bomb squad is searching the area around the ashram to detect any kind of explosives. We are investigating the number from which the threat calls came and we hope the anonymous caller will be arrested soon," informed Kandhamal SP, Vinit Agarwal who rushed the ashram to review the security deployment.
A seven member team of State BJP unit including two MLAs, Mukesh Mahalinga and Kusum Tete will visit Jalespata Ashram today to take stock of the situation.
(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)
https://youtu.be/s0MgjaX0xLI
