Sharmili Mallick

Phulbani: The Kandhamal Police has served a notice to the son of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati to return the compensation money provided to the latter following the brutal killing of his father and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader in 2008.

The Kandhamal SP has written a letter to Lokanath Nath and stated that the Rs 3 lakh cheque which was given to him by the administration as compensatory money in 2015 was 'mistakenly' provided to him.

However, Lokanath and his wife Basanti have said that they have spent the money and cannot return the entire amount as they are economically unstable. They have also threatened to self-immolate themselves outside the SP office, if they are forced to pay the entire sum.

As per sources, wife of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati was immediately provided Rs 2 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) as a compensation after the latter's murder in 2008. This apart, Rs 3 lakh was also released from the Central government.

In 2015, Kandhamal SP provided Rs 2 lakh compensation to Lokanath. However, after four months, he received a letter from the SP office in which he was asked to return the money and was also summoned yesterday by Phulbani Sub-Collector in another notice.

Accordingly, Lokantha and Basanti met the Phulbani Sub-Collector Debendra Kumar Nanda and informed that they have returned Rs 1 lakh but will not be able to pay the rest of the amount.

"We received a notice from the SP office which stated that the money provided to me was wrongly sent as my mother had already received the amount earlier," said Lokanath.

On the other hand, Phulbani Sub-Collector said that even though no action has been taken against Lokanath, any decision on the recovery of the money will be taken by the court.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)

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