A damaged house at Baliguda village in Khandhamal district of Orissa. (PTI)

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 27: Violence spread to previously unaffected parts of Khandhamal district today, forcing the administration to issue shoot-at-sight orders in eight pockets of the vulnerable area.

Revenue divisional commissioner (southern division) Satyabrata Sahu, who is camping in the district and monitoring the law and order situation there, said: “There is a standing order to shoot at any rioter seen on the road when the curfew is in force.”

Curfew has been clamped at eight places across the district, including Phulbani, the district headquarters town, and Section 144 of the CrPC has been promulgated throughout the district, said deputy inspector-general of police R.P. Koche.

With the situation still volatile in Khandhamal, the Union minister of state for home affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal, who arrived in the state today, cancelled his scheduled visit to the district following request from the state government.

The Union minister, who reviewed the overall law and order situation with chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the secretariat today, emphasised that “the situation was not under control.”

Jaiswal said that reports of communal violence spreading to other parts of the state were being received. Calling the incidents “unfortunate”, the Union minister said the events might have national ramifications.

“I have asked the Orissa government to contain the incidents on a war footing,” he said, adding that the chief minister assured him of restoring normality within three days.

Negating the chances of the Centre probing into the Orissa violence, Jaiswal said: “Law and order is a state subject.”

The chief minister said the government had sought additional four companies of central paramilitary forces and a helicopter to deal with the situation.

Earlier, the Union minister met chief secretary Ajit Tripathy, home secretary T.K. Mishra and director-general of police G.C. Nanda, who briefed him at the Raj Bhavan about the overall law and order situation in the state and particularly in Khandhamal.

A delegation of Opposition Congress leaders, led by the leader of the Opposition, J.B. Patnaik, also met Jaiswal at Raj Bhavan and apprised him of the law and order “crisis” following the death of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four other associates on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the official clash toll went up to 10 today with the recovery of a body from Kasinpada under Phiringia police station in Khandhamal this morning.

Fresh clashes were reported from Nuagaon area under Kotagarh area of Khandhamal today, but no casualty was reported, said officers in the district control room.

There were also reports of thousands of people in Khandhamal moving into the nearby forest areas for safety. According to reports, more than 500 houses, 15 vehicles and 25 prayer houses have been torched or damaged in the instances of mob fury.

Pope Benedict on Wednesday condemned spiralling violence against Christians in India but also deplored the killing of a Hindu leader that sparked clashes.

Benedict said he was profoundly saddened by the violence that has left as least 10 people dead, nearly all Christians, and by destruction of Christian homes, churches and orphanages at the hands of Hindu mobs in Orissa.

The Vatican had strongly condemned the spate of attacks against Christians in Orissa on Tuesday.