Priests protest in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today threatened to bring in thousands of sadhus from across the country to gherao the office of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, if the administration failed to arrest the killers of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and set up a special court to expedite the trial in the case.

The VHP leader, Praveen Togadia, who addressed a news meet in the capital today, alleged that an attempt was made last night to stall his vehicle while it was on its way to Bhubaneswar from Khandhamal. The leader was attending the last rites of the slain VHP leader in Khandhamal.

“The Kalinga Ghat Road passes through dense forest areas and a part of the road was blocked by three large trees. The obstruction was a plot to stall the vehicle and, perhaps, attack it,” said Togadia.

“Though the accompanying security guards removed two of the trees, the third was too large for them,” Togadia added. A heavy machine was requisitioned to remove the tree. The VHP leader said Special Operations Group and police personnel took him to a “safe” place from where he started for Bhubaneswar after the road was cleared. “I appreciate the role of the police and security personnel in dealing with the situation.”

However, minutes later, the leader was less lenient on the state police.

“We hold the chief minister and police responsible for the death of swamiji. They have failed to protect him, despite him receiving threats,” said the international secretary-general.

“However, we don’t want the chief minister to resign, but want him to act against the violent church involved in the killings and implement laws against conversion and cow slaughter for which the seer had been fighting,” he said.

“If the government fails to act, we will be compelled to launch a militant agitation. If necessary, thousands of sadhus from across the country will gherao the chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s office and compel him to act,” Togadia added.

Denying that VHP’s stand on the BJP government “was soft”, the VHP leader said: “We will make the government act. If it fails, people may look for an alternative in the next polls.”

Togadia also demanded a special commission of inquiry to probe into the role of churches in the state. “The commission should ideally inquire into the activities of foreign missionaries and church funds,” he added. The VHP leader alleged that Orissa’s church organisations saw the seer and his fight against conversion as a threat.