Click to play videoBhubaneshwar: After a few days of peace, the Orissa Police now fear a fresh outbreak of violence in Kandhamal.
Earlier this week a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activist Dhanu Pradhani was shot dead by suspected Maoists.
Pradhani was among the 14 Hindu activists in the hitlist released by Maoists after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Swami Laxmananda Saraswati in August.
Police are now offering protection to the rest as a precautionary measure.
"These incidents are instigated by terrorist groups and have the potential to flare up communal tension. I request the people who are facing such threats to cooperate with us, so that we can give them protection," Manmohan Praharaj, Director General of Police, Orissa, said.
Authorities fear this would provoke further retaliatory violence against Christians in Kandhamal.
That is because the Sangh Parivar believes that Christian leaders too are involved in the killings. Sangh leaders are angry that the police are doing little to check the Maoists threats
"Are Maoist God that they can do whatever they wish? There are 7,000 securitymen in Kandhamal right now. Why can't the police catch them and make it clear who are behind such killings," Laxmikant Das, General Secretary, Banbasi Kalyan Ashram, said.
The Orissa Police have set a deadline of December 25 for restoring complete normalcy in Kandhamal.
But with a new Maoist threat that deadline seems a distant dream.
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