The Naxal group, CPI Maoists, have claimed responsibility for the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananand and four others. In a press release, the Maoists accused the Swami of communal politics in the region. Swami Laxmananand's murder had triggered a massive wave of violence between VHP activists and Christians in Kandhmal district of Orissa.