Bhubaneswar, Aug. 23: Security was tight across Kandhamal district today as Hindutva outfits organised meetings and rallies to mark the death anniversary of Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati which was observed as Balidan Divas (Martyr’s Day).

Official sources said 18 platoons of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in the sensitive areas of the district. Five platoons were on duty in the district headquarters town of Phulbani, where the followers of Swami held a meeting. Sources said special prayer meetings were also organised at the Jalaspeta and Chakapad ashrams of the slain VHP leader.

Sources said the VHP leaders, who took part in the Balidan Divas programmes, expressed dissatisfaction at the progress of the probe into Swami’s murders. They alleged that real culprits were still at large while the government was trying to divert public attention by blaming Maoists for the killing.

The crime branch, which is probing into the murder of Saraswati, has named two top Maoist leaders of the state, Sabyasachi Panda and Dunna Keshav Rao alias Azad, in its chargesheet. However, the Hindutva leaders believe that excessive emphasis on the involvement of Maoist leaders in the killing was nothing but a diversionary tactics on the part of the government.

Saraswati along with four of his followers was gunned down at his Jalaspeta ashram in the district on this day in 2008. The killings triggered one of the worst communal riots in the history of the state.

The probe of Justice Sarat Chandra Mohapatra commission into the Kandhamal riots that followed the killing of Saraswati remains incomplete with the former Orissa High Court judge passing away a few months ago. Besides, the Justice Basudev Panigrah commission inquiring into the 2007 riots in Kandhamal has sought extension of its tenure by a year. The commission’s tenure expires on August 31.

Sources said the Hindutva forces were acting in sync to keep the memory of Swami’s killing alive and trying to channelise people’s dissatisfaction with the government over the issue to build up a movement. This, many believe, is crucial to the political fortunes of the BJP whose base in Kandhamal district has been shrinking. The party, however, is trying hard to claw back to its original position, so that it can challenge the BJD in the next elections.