The Maoists in Orissa have claimed that they killed senior VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda in August, 2008. This killing led to widespread communal violence and attacks on Christians in Orissa. The chief of the CPI Maoists' Orissa unit Sabyasachi Panda told NDTV that they had left two letters on the spot after the killing the Swami but the government deliberately did not make them public.