Sangh activist killed in Kandhamal - Prospect of retaliatory Violence

Indian Express, November 6, 2008

Kandhamal tense as RSS activist is killed

Debabrata Mohanty Posted: Nov 06, 2008 at 2315 hrs IST

Bhubaneswar, November 5 : Kandhmal's fragile peace received another blow on Wednesday when suspected Maoists gunned down a tribal RSS activist, almost two-and-half months after they had shot dead senior VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others in the tribal-dominated district. The district witnessed one of the worst communal conflagrations in the state following the August 23 incident at the VHP leader’s ashram at Jalespeta.

The police said three suspected Maoist cadres pumped bullets into Dhanu Pradhan, a 33-year-old mason, at around 12.30 pm in his village at Kumbharigaon under the Bramhanigaon police station. The police could not provide more details about the killing, but family members of Pradhan alleged that Pano Christians were behind the incident and discounted the police claim of Maoists being behind the murder.

“My brother was returning home when three people stopped him. One of them tied his hand while the other two fired at him from pistols,” said Anand Pradhan, the brother of the victim. Officials said the killers put a red banner on a house in which the names of 16 people, including that of Pradhan, were scrawled in white ink with the threat that they would be liquidated soon.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad said the killing of RSS activist showed that the presence of 42 companies of the CRPF does not guarantee peace for the people in the district. “The Pano Christians had sent 60 people to the Maoists for training. If they kill 16 people of ours we would not sit idle,” said Subash Chouhan of the VHP.

The RSS is active in Kandhamal and the majority of Kandh tribals have become followers of the Sangh.