Bhubaneswar: The Odisha govt is exploring whether the deleted digital files of the A S Naidu judicial commission report on the 2008 assassination of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati can be retrieved or not.The voluminous report — running into nearly 1,500-2,000 pages across two volumes — along with an administrative inquiry file on the 2016 SUM hospital fire, went missing from the chief minister’s office during the 2024 regime change.Acting on chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s order of July 27, the crime branch has launched a probe into the alleged theft of the Naidu commission report. “During my recent interaction with retired Justice Naidu, he told me that all the digital copies were deleted from computers after the hard copies were submitted to the previous govt. We are consulting IT experts to see if those deleted files can be retrieved,” revenue minister Suresh Pujari told reporters.He added that the crime branch probe would conclude on one of two possibilities — either the missing file is traced, or it is not, in which case responsibility would be fixed. “We are also weighing the possibility of preparing a fresh report, though the Commissions of Inquiry Act does not permit it,” the minister said.Naidu earlier stated that the commission examined the circumstances surrounding rampant religious conversion and Maoist activities linked to the killing of Saraswati and four disciples at Jalespeta Ashram in Kandhamal district on Aug 23, 2008. The incident triggered widespread ethno‑communal violence across the district, leaving at least 38 people dead, over 20,000 houses torched, and more than 10,000 families homeless.The judicial commission was set up on Sept 8, 2008, by then chief minister Naveen Patnaik during the BJD‑BJP coalition. Initially led by retired Orissa high court judge Sarat Chandra Mohapatra, it was taken over by Justice Naidu in Sept 2012 after Mohapatra’s death in May 2012. Naidu submitted the report on Dec 22, 2015.Official records show the home department forwarded it to the chief secretary’s office on Sept 16, 2016, before it was sent to the CMO three days later on Sept 19.
