Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: Seven persons were today convicted by a court in Kandhamal district, about 200km from here, for the murder of senior VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others more than five years ago.

The court of additional district judge Rajendra Kumar Tosh in Phulbani, the headquarters of Kandhamal, held the seven guilty, but reserved its order on the quantum of punishment for October 3. The seven convicted are Garanath Chalanseth, Bijaya Kumar Samseth, Buddhadev Nayak, Sanatan Badamajhi, Duryadhan Sunamajhi, Bhaskar Sunamajhi and Munda Badamajhi.

Besides murder and criminal conspiracy, the seven were convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for offences, including rioting with deadly weapons and unlawful assembly. They were also held guilty under provision of the Arms Act. The court will deliver its judgment in the case of two other accused tomorrow.

The judgment, which came more than five years after Laxmanananda and four of his disciples, including a woman, were gunned down at his Jalaspeta Ashram in Kandhamal district, was delivered around 11.30am amidst tight security in and around the court premises. Sources said that six platoons of police had been deployed in Phulbani town with a special watch being kept on the court.

Considering the sensitive nature of the case, the district administration had also deployed police in certain areas outside Phulbani.

The judgment was long awaited and as many as 35 persons had deposed before the court as witnesses.

The killing of Laxmanananda and his four disciples had triggered mass communal violence leaving around 40 persons dead and thousands homeless. Many places of worship were torched and damaged during the riots considered to be one of the worst in the history of the state.

The case was probed by the crime branch following allegations of involvement of some top Maoist leaders in the killings. Sources in the crime branch expressed satisfaction over the convictions saying that the department’s assiduous investigation had yielded results.

The crime branch in its first chargesheet in the case had named seven persons. Later, seven other names cropped up and a final chargesheet was submitted by the agency in May 2011.

However, Hindutva outfits and BJP leaders are dissatisfied with the probed. They say that the real killers of Laxmanananda and his followers are yet to be nabbed and brought to justice. In the past they had also rejected the police theory about Maoists having planned and executed the killing of the septuagenarian VHP leader.