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BHUBANESWAR: Rail and road traffic was disrupted across Orissa on Monday and thousands of people staged demonstrations in several places as part of a statewide shutdown called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest the killing of a leader of the organisation on Saturday.
"Train services have been affected across the state," JP Mishra, spokesperson of the east coast railway, said. "Neither passenger nor goods trains were allowed to move from stations."
Road traffic was also badly hit and many vehicles were attacked. "Protesters damaged at least five vehicles - two in Rourkela and three in the coastal district of Balasore," a police official said.
Thousands of protesters staged demonstrations and burnt tyres in several villages, towns and on national highways. Almost all shops and petrol pumps remained closed.
Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a member of VHP's central advisory committee, and four other people were killed at his Jalespata ashram, some 340 km from here, Saturday evening after more than 30 suspected Maoist rebels opened fired on them. The ashram is in Kandhamal district.
According to Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda, the attackers used "sophisticated rifles and AK-47".
Saraswati was leading a campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversion in the communally sensitive Kandhamal district. The district, with a population of around 600,000 including 150,000 Christians, has witnessed numerous clashes between Hindus and Christians in the past.
Saraswati's supporters have been holding protests since Saturday night, blocking trains and vehicles.
On Sunday, at least three prayer houses were burnt by a mob in Kandhamal and a police outpost was attacked. Ten houses in Rupagaon village were also set on fire.
The state government on Sunday ordered a judicial probe into the killings and announced compensation for the victims. Authorities also constituted a special police team to investigate the crime.
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