Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra on Monday alleged before the Judicial Commission probing the Kandhamal communal riot that the state
administration had been a "co-conspirator" in the crime by
remaining silent.
Mishra said this while deposing before the Judicial
Commission headed by Justice SC Mohapatra after being
summoned by the panel basing on his statement made in the
assembly as the deputy leader of Congress Legislature Party.
"In my statement, I informed the commission that the
state government was co-conspirator in the riot that took
place on the night of December 24, 2007," Mishra said.
Mishra said a group of Christians including local
church leaders had met the then superintendent of police and
collector of Kandhamal before the violence and informed them
about the volatile situation there.
But they did not take any action to prevent the riot,
he alleged.
Accusing the state's BJD government of acting hand in
gloves with the rioters, Mishra said the then SP and Collector
should have been punished for negligence.
"Inaction on part of the government in the 2007 riot
led to killing of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati and a massive
violence in the aftermath," he claimed.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 09, 2012, 21:19